What Kindness Does
by Slurpee Monster
Summary: The Skool year isn't over yet, and a new girl, Rin, joins the class and experiences some of the drama that comes along with being in the same class as Zim and Dib. She also offers the two rivals something neither of them are familiar with... Kindness
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes/Disclaimer: **This is my first attempt at Invader Zim Fanfiction… Fear it!! Also I do not own Zim, Dib, the showMs. Bitters, and the other characters I didn't mention. Rin is mine… I think. She was spawned from some place deep within the recess of my awesome brainz.

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**Rin; the Doomed new Student**

For once reason or another, Ms Bitters was in a more horrible mood than usual. She had been rambling on and on about how hopeless life was and that all of their greatest hopes and dreams would be smashed into oblivion. The old kid sitting in the back coughed, and Ms Bitters stopped in mid rant and flew over her desk, landing in front of his desk.

The children sitting nearby stared wide-eyes as their teacher firmly told the old man… child… thingy that he was getting transferred to the underground classroom and the floor promptly opened under his seat and swallowed the guy whole. Dib, who was greatly interested in the paranormal, had always thought this to be a little odd but remained silent as Ms. Bitters returned to her desk to continue her lecture. The old man had been failing anyway.

"Excuse me."

She was interrupted by a young girl peering in through the doorway. She had short choppy brown hair and wore a baggy white shirt that read "I Heart Nessie" The letters were really small and printed underneath a cartoonish picture of the fabled sea creature.

"What do you want?" Ms Bitters demanded spraying spit in the girl's direction.

"Well uh… I just moved here…and they told me to come to this classroom so…"

"What's your name?"

"My name's Rin," she replied looking around the classroom. Some of the students in the back had started whispering, the others continued to look at her curiously, except for one boy who remained with his hands folded and looking at the front of the classroom. She squinted at him for a moment, glanced at Ms Bitters, and then turned back to the green-skinned boy with a confused expression on her face.

Zim avoided eye-contact with the human girl and continued staring at the empty chalkboard.

"Rin, take a seat by Zim," Ms Bitters said pointing her gnarled old finger at the desk in the front row, only there was someone sitting in it.

"But Ms Bitters…" the young boy began looking uncertain at the empty seat which had belonged to the old kid. "I'm sitting here. Can't she take the empty seat in the back?"

Without a word, the teacher glared menacingly at the boy, and the floor once again opened up. The child let out a frightened scream before falling into the darkness below. The hole quickly closed, much to Rin's surprise, and she was told to take her seat. She did quickly and opened up her notebook in case she had to take notes.

"Now who can tell me the meaning of life…?" Ms Bitters asked after finishing her long lecture.

Most of the kids were falling asleep in their desks or staring dumbly around the room.

"No one?" their teacher stated, her voice sounding dull and lifeless… A cockroach fell from her face as she turned to write something on the board, and Dib gave a sigh as he drooped in his seat. Only Zim seemed not to have been bored senseless by today's banter about her usual topic of negativity towards all living things.

Suddenly Rin raised her hand.

"Umm.. Ms. Bitters? How can following your dream result in your brain exploding all over the pavement?"

The chalk snapped as the frightening old teacher turned to face the young girl.

"I mean… it's easy to concentrate on the negatives, but what about the positives? As a teacher shouldn't you be giving us both sides so that we can come to a conclusion ourselves?"

"You obviously haven't been alive very long," their teacher said. "There are no positives, you will find that out when you're older, but while you have your hand raised you might as well give us your meaningless answer."

"Oh, well no one knows for sure what the true meaning of life is…. But mine is to obtain as much knowledge as possible in my life-time and use it for the greater good."

"You will fail."

Just then the class bell rang signalling the lunch hour, and the children filed out of the classroom. There were only about eight left… most having been sent to detention for one purpose or another during Ms. Bitter's lecture.

Rin let out a relieved sigh before grabbing her notebook and putting it away. She had tried to take a lot of notes on her first day of class, but she had ended up drawing all over her papers instead. None of the other kids had been taking notes anyway…

"Zim!" she called to the green skinned boy who was heading out the door. She placed her backpack over one shoulder before following after him.

The odd looking kid gave her an odd look. "What do you want filthy earth child?" he questioned irritably. "Can't you see Zim is busy?"

"Yeah uh… no actually," she said when she realized that Zim hadn't been doing anything. "It's just, well… You're green."

"It's a skin condition," he replied loudly, startling some of his classmates as the walked by. "I am a normal human creature!"

Rin stared blankly at him for a moment. "Ok…"

"Are you done bothering Zim stupid human? I have much to do before that horrible class of inferior learning begins!"

"Could you show me where the cafeteria is?"

"That filthy place of filthy humans eating their filthy food!?" He paused and looked back down the hall. "I mean, of course! Follow me worm-child. Zim will show you."

"You sound very alien like to me," she admitted with a giggle. "Oh well, at least no one will ever get bored speaking to you."

"You mock Zim!?"

"No no," she raised her hands defensively when Zim shot her an angry look. "It was a compliment."

"Oh, I see. Well then… I guess I won't have to make you pay for mocking the almighty Zim!"

He stopped just as he reached the cafeteria doors and recoiled in disgust when he smelled the meats inside.

They were serving some horrible kind of sausage like things again! After being turned into a baloney, he had no desire to go anywhere near the stuff.

"Ugh… well, I really have to get going. Don't kill yourself trying to eat the horrible worm food…"

He waved at her to go with his free hand before heading back down the hall.

As soon as she entered the cafeteria, she was approached by a boy wearing a trench coat. He must have passed her sometime in the hall since his desk was closer to the windows than it was the door.

"What did you think?" he asked glaring defiantly at the cafeteria doors as though he expected Zim to walk in at any minute and cause some kind of trouble.

"Of?"

"Of Zim."

"Oh… he seems nice."

Dib slapped his forehead and uttered a hopeless sigh. Were humans really this stupid!? Why couldn't he find just one person, ONE that could see through Zim's crudely made disguise?

"He talks like he's from outer space, and he looks like he's from outer space… Why can't anybody see Zim's an alien!?"

He shouted a little too loudly and caught the attention of the kids sitting at the table closest to them. For fun, they threw there food at the crazy boy who stood there for a moment with a bemused expression on his face before wiping the mashed potatoes (at least the looked like potatoes… kind of) and the sausage juice from his face.

"Crazy boy is at it again!" one of them laughed and the whole table joined in.

"I thought so," Rin said quietly so that the other children couldn't hear her. "I wouldn't say anything though… I mean, if he's discovered he might get hurt so…"

"That's the whole point! He's been trying to destroy the Earth for over a year now! If I expose him, the Earth will be saved!"

"We're tired of hearing your stupid stories large head!" a larger boy shouted from his table. Two girls had dropped their food off at a table before coming to Rin's "rescue."

"It's better if you just ignore him," the girl with frizzy red hair explained. "He's pretty much insane"

"He even claimed to see Bigfoot in his garage," the other girl remarked snickering.

Dib hung his head a little. "He was using the belt sander…" he murmured. Of course he knew no one would believe him. They never did. Before he could say anything else, the girls whisked Rin away, and Dib went to stand in the lunch line, listening to the snickers of his fellow schoolmates. He would prove himself one day…

He sat down at one of the empty tables and placed his tray down before leaning on his fist and gazing off into the distance. He would find a way to expose Zim, even if it killed him.

A tray clattered down next to his as Rin pulled up a seat beside him. She had a coy look on her face as she began eating what she hoped was some kind of BEEF sausage… though from the smell she had a feeling that she would be lucky if it was even racoon. Maybe it was opossum. She'd eaten strange things before though, so this idea didn't really frighten her so much,

"Rin?" Dib questioned in confusion. He was used to people avoiding him like this plague or calling him names, from a safe distance of course. No body knew when the crazy boy might snap.

"Sorry about that," she said stabbing one of the meaty looking things with her fork.

"Sorry? But… don't you think I'm crazy? I thought those girls…"

"I scared them away with my Nessie bantering; I don't think they'll bother me again."

She gave him a smile before shoving a piece of meat into her mouth. Something crunched, and she made a face. Those better not have been opossum claws…

"You believe in the Loch Ness Monster too?" Dib asked; his voice filled with hope. Maybe it was possible for him; a school reject, to have a friend. He wouldn't get his hopes up too much though… The last time someone talked to him like this, it had been a sick joke.

"I believe in the possibility of the Loch Ness monster," she said after swallowing the strange meaty substance. "My father believes in it full heartedly though. He got me this shirt when he went to the Loch in search of the creature last spring. Right now he's in Antarctica looking for evidence of the snow yeti."

"Ah yes… Bigfoot's cousin," Dib said nodding. "I guess he's a paranormal researcher?"

"Yeah, he would have pounced on Zim if he saw him… he's into aliens and UFOs too. Personally, I had my doubts about alien existence, but seeing Zim made me change my mind."

"You should see his base," Dib said letting his doubts about the girl's sincerity fall away. "It's filled with all sorts of alien type things. You'd probably appreciate it more than Gaz does."

"That's his house," Rin said playing with the mush on her plate with her fork. "Even if I was interested, I'd have to be invited over. I don't agree with trespassing."

"I guess you're against alien autopsy too then…" Dib spoke sounding almost disappointed.

"You guessed right, the very idea of it gives me shivers. You'd like my dad though, he's into everything. My mom supports him the best she can, but he's been spending a lot of money recently."

They talked for the whole lunch period. Rin spoke about her father and his research, and her mom and her involvement in POOP Corporation. Dib mentioned his father, Professor Membrane only once, and the girl seemed surprised to find out that she was sharing a classroom with the famous professor's son.

The bell went and they walked back to class together. A few of the kids in the hallway stared. They couldn't believe Dib was actually talking to someone, and he sounded almost normal for a change! Rin didn't seem to mind the stares, and he gave a sigh of relief. Maybe he could be friends with her… maybe.

"I see the filthy earth food didn't kill you human girl," Zim stated impassively. His hands were folded on his desk; he seemed innocent enough, but Dib couldn't help looking around to see if the alien might have done something to the room. There were no obvious signs of tampering…

Rin smiled at the disguised alien and popped a piece of gum into her mouth as she sat down in her seat. "I wouldn't let something like that kill me," she said. "At least, not on my first day of Skool anyway, though I think tomorrow I'm going to play it safe and bring a bagged lunch."

They worked on a five paged math worksheet for the rest of class. Dib seemed to be good with numbers, and he finished ahead of nearly everyone. Then again… there were still only eight kids in the classroom, so he might not have been the fastest on a normal day. Rin mulled about, erasing numbers and reprinting them back on the page over and over again. These questions never made any sense to her. She raised her hand for help once, but Ms. Bitters told her to figure it out on her own. With a sigh, she slumped in her seat.

Zim had been staring angrily at his paper for a long time… when he saw that Rin was no longer working on hers, he gave her a fiendish smirk and asked "were you defeated by these earth numbers Rin-human?"

"No, I'm just taking a break," she replied glancing over at his paper. "You haven't written anything at all Zim."

"I know, but these earth numbers don't make sense to Zim. I command them to reveal their secrets to Zim!"

"Well Ms. Bitters wasn't any help..." She glanced over at Dib who was watching the clock tick by.

"Maybe that kid could help. He seems to be pretty good at this."

"That filthy human Dib? Never!" Zim exclaimed.

"That's Dib?" Rin questioned, and the boy glanced at her before turning back to looking out the window.  
"He seems ok to me."

"You lie!"

Whatever they didn't finish was due for homework, and Rin gave a short sigh as she stuffed the only half completed package into her backpack.

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**More Notes:** Is Rin a self-insert? No way. You crazy. Basically I probably would have used Gaz if I liked her character more. Sorry Gaz, and then Tak is…well she's lost in space somewhere, so I decided to place my own character in the story. I wonder if that will be ok. I don't usually like putting my own characters in fanfiction. It feels kind of wrong, somehow… But oh well. It's worth a shot I guess. A super toast to shots! 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's notes: My documents are a disaster area… and I think I'm beginning to hate the main Title. Oh well.

I don't mean to make this fic sound like anyone else's but I guess that's already happened. I'll apologize now for that. I'll also be posting two chapters a week on Sundays and... some other day.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Invader Zim characters or objects. I do however own Rin.

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**Curse You Dib! Curse You Rain!**

Ms. Bitters forced everyone to leave the classroom, and the children quickly ran into the front courtyard to play before the buses arrived. It was raining. Zim couldn't believe he hadn't noticed. He looked back at the door and found his nemesis, Dib, guarding it with a satisfied look on his face. Zim growled. Stupid humans… stupid rain…

A while ago he had discovered that by covering himself in paste, the water wouldn't be able to touch him. It became harmless, and the foolish humans had a very large supply of it. Everywhere you went on this filthy dirt ball you could find the stuff, but when Gir found out that the paste could be eaten… Zim shuddered remembering the look his crazed robot had given him the last time he had decided to wear paste as a protective barrier against the rain.

"Is something wrong Zim?" Rin asked as she stepped out from under the overhang into the rainstorm. The water dripped harmlessly from her… but it would burn his skin very badly. He couldn't touch it… but he had to make it home. There was paste inside the Skool, but Dib wasn't going to let him back inside.

_Curse you Dib! _

"No, of course not, it's just a bit of water… falling from the sky… curse you sky!" Zim shouted glaring angrily at the dark clouds above them.

"You don't like rain?" Rin questioned tilting her head back to look up at the falling droplets. "I guess I should have brought an umbrella then. Maybe some rain boots."

"Your babbling doesn't help Zim, stupid filth child."

He was pushed forward, and he landed roughly on the wet pavement, open to the rain. Dib had pushed him from behind; Zim hadn't even noticed him coming! It didn't take long for his skin to start smoking. It hurt so bad… stupid big-head! A scream of pain escaped him as he leapt to his feet. His skin was burning…why did water have to fall from the sky!? The sky of all places!

He wasn't too sure what happened next, he felt someone tug his arm, and suddenly he was back underneath the shelter. He fell to his knees panting as the smoke began to dissipate… he was going to make the Dib pay!

"What do you think you were doing Dib!?" Rin asked with a hint of anger. "You knew that was going to happen didn't you?"

Dib was stunned… she was scolding him? But he'd told her how dangerous Zim was! Besides, they had been fighting each other a long time. They always took any opportunity they could to take advantage of each other's weaknesses. Rin of course didn't know this.

"He's an evil alien invader!" Dib quickly began to argue. "I've had to stop him from destroying the world numerous times!"

"I don't think he was trying to destroy the Earth just now Dib…" Rin noted.

Dib blinked in confusion. Even so, this was war! It was man vs. alien, and man was going to be the victor!

Zim grinned widely when he saw Dib's expression. "Oh yes, it hurts…bad Dib human always hurts Zim."

Rin stared down at him. "I'm not an idiot… You can't fool me Zim. You've obviously done some bad things too."

The alien glanced away while trying to appear as innocent as possible. Bad things? Nonsense! Destroying Earth was for the good of the Irken Empire. He couldn't tell this stupid worm child that, otherwise two humans would know that he was an alien, though Zim could deal with two humans if they decided to stand against him. He could take down a hundred, no, a thousand humans if they tried. No one could stop the mighty Zim!

"Is there anyway to keep the rain from burning you?" Rin asked Zim, who glared passed Dib at the Skool doors.

"Yes," Zim replied. He hesitated wondering if Dib would use this information against him, but he decided to tell the human female anyway since he wasn't going to be using 'paste' anymore. Not after Gir almost had him for breakfast that one time…

"I found that the substance called "paste" can keep the water from Zim."

"So that's how you've been doing it," Dib replied giving the alien a menacing look.

"Shut up stinking Dib worm smell!"

The girl tried the Skool doors but found them locked, but the buses had just pulled into the Skool parking lot; maybe Zim could take a bus home.

"Absolutely not!" Zim shouted pointing an accusing finger at the large yellow vehicle. "Those vermin filled diseased transport crates are horrible! I don't understand how humans can stand it! The filth! The horrible, horrible, filthy ughh!"

"It's that or the rain," Dib said.

Zim gave him a sideways glance. "Why are you still here…?"

"I like watching you struggle against the forces of Earth," the boy replied with a snicker.

Zim jumped up and made a fist at Dib, showing his teeth as he growled angrily.

Rin held her head and gave a long drawn out sigh. These two definitely had issues with each other…

"Your kind's technology must be more advanced than ours…" she said, surprising Zim who still believed she didn't know he was an alien. "Can't you call someone?"

"I wouldn't know, I am a human worm creature" he replied lowering his fist.

"She knows Zim," Dib replied rolling his eyes.

"Curse you!"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"You lie! Humans and their lying; it makes me sick."

"You're the one who's calling himself human!"

"That's my job Dib-pig. You might know about the requirements of a job if you actually had one, but you don't."

"Can you call someone or not Zim?" Rin questioned, and the alien invader grabbed the communicator that had come from his Pak.

"Gir… come in Gir…" Nothing…. "GIR!"

A little robot appeared on the screen, covered in gooey cheese. "Hi master! Where'd you go!?"

"Skool Gir, we've been over this before…"

"That's too bad; you missed a really good episode of Crazy Monkey when the monkey is all like ooo ooo ah! Ah ah! Ooo!"

Gir started bouncing around making a variety of monkey noises much to Zim's agitation.

"Concentrate Gir!" He demanded.

"I want to be a piggy pink piggy!" The robot suddenly paused. The microwave was beeping! "Popcorn's done! Bye bye master!"

"Gir! Get back here! Gir!" Zim let out a frustrated sigh as the transmission ended, and the screen folded back into its place. He glared angrily at Dib. "Don't say anything…" he warned.

Dib looked away innocently, but he was laughing uncontrollably on the inside.

"Ahem… I've got to get going anyway. You're lucky Zim," he said running out from beneath the overhang.

Gaz was sick, that's why she hadn't been at school today. He had promised her that morning, under the threat of death, to bring her back some cough medicine after school.

The buses sped off with the noisy chatting children inside, leaving Zim and Rin relatively alone in the school yard.

"Where is your house?" Rin asked deciding not to bring up the squealing robot for the moment.

"I don't think you need to know that filthy Earth child," Zim replied narrowing his eyes. He didn't trust humans… It was already bad enough that both she and Dib knew his weakness to water.

"Then you're coming to my house," she said, and Zim recoiled as though it had been a threat. No matter… He could deal with this… new problem.

"It's not that far away from the Skool," she looked around the schoolyard for something… but there was nothing that could help them. She turned her attention to the road, and across the street she saw something that looked promising and went to fetch it.

She returned with a garbage can lid in her hands. It was wet, dripping, and Zim stared at it for a while, then at her.

"What do you expect me to do with this?" he asked. She shook the plastic lid, drying it the best she could before handing it to him.

"Hold it over your head. It should keep most of the rain from touching you."

Someone passed by the school; it was a man, and he was holding his suitcase over his head as he hurried along the sidewalk.

"Adults don't really like the rain either," Rin commented as she handed him the lid. "My house is just a couple blocks away. My mom is trying to move us in; it needs some repairs so my two brothers are staying at my aunt's house. There shouldn't be anyone there right now…. unless dad decided to come home early… but I don't think so."

This human was acting very suspicious. Zim looked down at the lid in his hands before holding it over his head as he'd been instructed. He stepped out from underneath the protection of the Skool and was surprised to discover that it worked… for the most part. The rain soaked through his gloves causing him some discomfort, but if this human was really going to take him somewhere close by… but for what purpose? Maybe she was planning on exposing him to the world like Dib! For all he knew, she could have a hundred cameras set up all over her house.

"Well, Rin-human, as much as I would like to spend time at your filthy home, I have stuff to do."

Zim started walking towards the street, but found that there were many many puddles all over the place! He couldn't avoid them all… and the cars!

"You say you live nearby…? On second thought, show Zim this "home" of yours."

It was two stories tall, painted white, and only a few minutes away from the Skool. There was a fence surrounding the small front yard; Rin opened the gate and let Zim pass through before letting it swing shut. Her mom must have left the door unlocked because when she tried the doorknob it opened.

"You might see some… strange stuff," she warned him as they entered the house. Zim looked around cautiously and threw the lid over his shoulder. There were no cameras from what he could tell, but they could be hidden some place.

"What do you mean strange?"

"Loch diagrams, Loch Ness monster photos, zombie reports, you know… the stuff paranormal investigators are into."

"Paranormal..?"

He brought his hand to his chin… hadn't Dib wanted to be one of those? He gasped and gave another quick look around.

"You tricked me," he accused backing towards the door. "I should have known!"

"So... it'll probably take a while to find the rain gear..." Rin continued ignoring the alien's outburst. "We've only unpacked a few things… I think the box might be in the garage."

He let out a hiss of pain when the rain touched his arm. Zim growled a little as he stared angrily at the grey sky above, retreating back inside while clutching his injured arm to himself. He was able to shake it off rather quickly. The pain usually didn't last very long.

"Zim, what are you doing?" Rin asked raising a brow at the alien's strange behaviour.

"Nothing," Zim replied folding his hands behind his back, trying to appear inconspicuous. Maybe he should try calling Gir again… His contacts were starting to bother him, and his antennae had been flattened under the wig all day. There was nothing he wanted more than to throw off the filthy human disguise and relax at home before plotting his next brilliant plan!

"Say human… You wouldn't happen to have any cameras set up anywhere would you?"

"No… no I don't… Why?"

"Oh, no reason, no reason at all," Zim faked a smile. It quickly dissipated when Rin left the room.

"Strange human… if she doesn't have any plans to capture me, why did she bring Zim to her filthy home?"

He glanced around the living room. There were white blanket type things covering the floor near the walls. A bucket and some kind of brush were lying out as well. The wall was horribly ugly, in Zim's opinion; it was a filthy colour.

"Augh!" he began scratching at his contacts. They were becoming really uncomfortable. "Filthy horrible contacts! Curse them!"

They fell from his eyes. Blinking, he looked around now with his large red eyes exposed. That felt much better, but what about the cameras? He searched for any sign of such a device but was unable to find any. Begrudgingly, he forced the contacts back into his eyes before taking a seat on the human's couch.

She was taking a long time to find whatever she was searching for… The clock sitting on a table next to the couch ticked in rhythm.

"Here you go," Rin said suddenly. She was standing in front of Zim who jerked back when he noticed her. He had been thinking about what he was going to do to Dib when he was finally able to make it back to his lab.

She was holding an odd human device. It was shaped like a stick, only it had some kind of fabric attached to it. Rin demonstrated to him how to open it before laying out a yellow rubber rain coat and a pair of gum boots.

"This primitive human device will keep the rain off?" Zim questioned disbelieving when she handed him the umbrella.

"Of course, a lot of people carry these around when it rains. It's called an umbrella. You must have seen someone use one before."

The image of Gaz with her umbrella came to mind, but he quickly shook that thought away.

"The rain boots will keep your feet from getting wet. You can slip the rain jacket over the clothes you're wearing."

"Zim needs no boots," he stated when he saw the large ugly black things. They were too large; they would weigh him down too much.

"I don't owe you anything human," Zim said narrowing his eyes at the strange girl. He put the jacket on the way it seemed to fit. Were human clothes supposed to be this big?

A picture of a UFO was resting on the coffee table, and Zim recognized it as his ship. He snatched it up for a closer look. Yes, that was definitely his ship.

"My father's," the girl explained. "He's very eccentric when it comes to the paranormal. He leaves his stuff lying around all over the place." She paused for a moment then let out a sigh. "Alien activity is the reason we moved here actually…"

* * *

Author's extended notes: Did I mention I really love Invader Zim fanfiction written by other people? If you have any unfinished projects, I command that you finish them! Finish them now! Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: Disclaimer: I do not own the Invader Zim cast. Rin and her father belong to me however.

I hate exams... I hate practice exams. This has been a very horrible week.

* * *

**A Giant Turtle and the Throbbing Fists **

Human compassion, was it a weakness? Some people might say that it is. Zim would most definitely say that it is, but when they were given the freedom to choose their own topic for their next essay, Rin chose it. If everyone had tolerance for everyone else, the world would be a much better place. Maybe she thought this way because her two brothers cried a lot… or maybe it was because her father had struggled often in the face of controversy. He had broken down a few times, but he was always able to snap back into the swing of things.

"Rin, your mark was horrible as your life will be," Ms. Bitters stated slapping the half finished math worksheet down on her desk. She had failed miserably, but she had expected to. Quickly she stuffed the paper with her depressing mark away before glancing over at Dib. He had gotten a near perfect score. Zim hadn't even handed his in, but this hadn't bothered him at all. It was all stupid human stuff anyway.

Unfortunately this had invoked the wrath of Ms. Bitters, and she threatened that the next time he didn't hand something in, she would send him to the underground classrooms.

As the class began writing their essays, Zim seemed to have taken an interest in something else entirely. He was working on a small machine which he was trying to attach to something else. No one but Dib and Rin noticed. The girl was surprised that all of the kids in her new class could be so oblivious…

That was the corporate world for you… No one cared about anything anymore, or maybe they honestly didn't find anything supernatural about Zim's behaviour.

"Ms. Bitters," one of the girls called from the back. "I need to use the washroom."

Glancing up from her work, Rin watched as the young girl was forced to put this strange device around her neck. She looked at Dib who seemed too engrossed in his essay to pay her any mind, but Zim appeared to have finished what he'd been doing and was now staring at the chalkboard again.

"What does that do…?" She asked Zim in a low whisper, staring at the odd collar like thing that had been placed around the student's neck.

"If you leave the Skool with that on, you'll explode," Ms. Bitters replied from her desk. How had the old woman heard her? There was definitely something odd about the Skool and its oldest living teacher. The girl who had left returned quickly and sat back in her seat without making a sound.

The bell went, and the children packed up their books and ran for the cafeteria. Rin nearly tripped over the object Zim had been working on. She caught herself and looked down at the weird object.

"Clumsy human…" Zim murmured stuffing it away in his backpack… or at least, it looked like a backpack. He never seemed to take it off though.

"Sorry Zim," Rin said. "I hope I didn't break it."

"I hope you did," Dib replied coming up from behind her. "It's probably some device he's going to use to try and destroy the human race."

"Don't be silly," Zim remarked. "Its ahh… toaster. Yes. A toaster. I was simply fixing it."

"A toaster?" Dib questioned raising a brow. "Surely you could come up with something better than that Zim."

"Silence human stink!"

Ms. Bitters forced them to leave the classroom. Zim refused to go to the cafeteria, so Rin suggested that they eat their lunch outside. At first Dib was hesitant to join them, but he gave himself the excuse that he needed to watch Zim to make sure he didn't try to experiment on Rin. Zim didn't want Dib there either… There was a bit of arguing which resulted in very many names being used.

The rain had dried up leaving only small puddles on the playground. The sun was hanging in the sky, warming the earth below. It was a beautiful day, though neither Dib nor Zim seemed to care. They kept giving each other dirty looks, even when Rin sat down and brought out her bagged lunch.

"I've brought enough for everyone," she told them with a smile.

Dib sat down beside her while Zim remained standing. He kept glancing irritably around as though he hoped to be somewhere else.

"So what's your dad like?" Dib asked.

"Well… he's not home a whole lot, but when he's home, he insists on spending almost every waking moment with us. He likes to joke a lot… I guess that's his way of dealing with stress. Other than that, he leaves on a lot of expeditions and brings all his findings back home. My mom often complains about him cluttering up the house."

Rin took a bite out of her sandwich before digging around in the bag and offering an orange to Dib. The boy seemed surprised, but he took it and began to peel the skin off.

"Do you want anything Zim?" Rin asked. "I've got jell-O, a bag of carrots, a chocolate bar, two juice boxes, and a peanut butter sandwich."

The Irken gave her a strange look. He didn't know what half of those were… though the chocolate bar was tempting. It looked like the snacks they had back on Irk.

"What's wrong Zim?" Dib taunted.

"Nothing! Give me the chocolate thingy."

At least it looked kind of familiar. He ripped it open and tested it with his reptile-like tongue. When nothing happened, he ate the rest of it.

"That wasn't bad human worm…" he stated tossing the wrapper away carelessly.

"What do you eat on your planet Zim?" Rin questioned.

"Lies!" the Irken shouted gesturing angrily at the sky.

"O...k..." Dib said, and Rin looked at him questioningly. The boy shrugged his shoulders. The alien seemed to have a problem with listening to people.

Zim looked at the odd human food and made a face.

"What are those… orange sticks, and that wiggly substance?"

"Carrots and Jell-O…" She replied before turning back to Dib. "You're the only other person that cares that Zim's an alien, and you didn't teach him anything?"

Dib choked on a piece of orange and nearly lost his glasses.

"W-what!?"

The bell went at the end of the lunch period, and the students all trudged back into the building. They filed back into their classrooms and sat waiting for their teacher to begin their lesson. Dib had gone inside ahead of Rin and Zim, too disturbed to continue any measure of conversation. He was troubled by the girl's trust towards Zim; an evil alien invader. He had to keep an eye on her… she didn't know how bad Zim could be.

Zim strode in a short time later.

"Alright class, take out your text books," Ms. Bitters said as she glared at them from the front of the class. She glided over to the door and shut it. Anyone who arrived now would be in trouble. Dib glanced worriedly at the door a few times, wondering where Rin had gone. Zim seemed very relaxed… perhaps a little too relaxed. He sat with his hands behind his back staring up at the ceiling

A man suddenly burst into the room. He didn't even seem to care that he was interrupting.

The kids in class stared at the man brainlessly with drool dripping from their mouths. He was dressed in a heavy fur coat with thick padded mits and fur lined boots. This might now have been such an odd sight in the dead of winter, but it wasn't winter. The weather wasn't even cold.

"I just wanted to inform you that I'm taking my daughter Rin home early!" he announced with a grin. He removed his goggles and placed them on top of his head.

Everyone stared, except for Zim.

"Uhh yeah… she should be here for tomorrow!"

The man had skis in his hands… He nearly left, but as he passed by Zim's desk he did a double take. Green skin? That was highly unusual… And his body seemed to be built differently than a human's…

Zim avoided eye contact, sweat dripping from his forehead.

No no, the man had promised to spend time with his children! There was no time for paranormal research now! With a smile, he turned away and left just as suddenly as he had come.

Dib smiled secretly to himself. He had recognized the look in Rin's father's eyes. The man had identified Zim as an alien, but for some reason he had chosen not to act on it.

With a sigh of relief, Zim slouched in his seat. That had been too close… His cover had almost been blown. If that happened… he shuddered picturing himself in a glass tank with a crowd of filthy humans staring up at him.

The windows of the class were open to let the warm air inside.

"Rin, you never told me there was an alien in your class!"

Dib looked around to see if anyone else had heard the man. Of course no one had…

A box fell from the ceiling and ticked down until it fumed and split open. Everyone watched until the small metallic package was revealed to be a turtle in a tank. Since their hamster had gone crazy all those months ago, the Skool had promised a replacement. Dib had argued against it of course, but he'd lost the argument.

A turtle? That couldn't be too bad… could it?

He glanced at Zim; the alien was tapping his pencil in boredom. Good. He didn't seem to be paying their new pet any mind. Then again, after what happened the last time…

It was the next day when all hell broke loose with class pet number two. Zim had taken the turtle, grown it to very large proportions, and replaced its brain with a computer chip. At least that's what Dib guessed when he saw his nemesis riding on top of the large reptile laughing maniacally.

Rin's father had deployed his organization to capture the unusually large animal along with Zim. In the end, there were many explosions, and the paranormal investigator was able to get a nice film of the entire thing, but Zim escaped after the turtle exploded into a million tiny pieces.

"Dad's going to be out there all day collecting those…" Rin said shaking her head sadly as Zim walked by adjusting his wig. This time Dib hadn't stopped him… it was strange. He had thought that Dib might be the only real intelligence on this planet. The other humans acted so stupidly, but now there was another one who had gotten in his way.

"Are you alright Zim?" Rin asked watching him from the sidewalk. The alien was standing in the middle of the street which had been completely destroyed by the massive turtle's rampage.

"Yes yes, just fine," he replied dusting off his pants. A part of him wondered why she even cared. Surely she realized that he planned to take over her pathetic planet by now. He might have taken over the world if the stupid earth creature had moved faster.

"Is your dad apart of the Swollen Eyeballs?" Dib questioned eagerly, stopping in front of Rin with a smile plastered on his face. That was the coolest thing he'd seen ever! Score another point for the human race!

"Throbbing Fists," Rin said unsurely. Her father's association was the least of her worries. "Mom isn't going to be happy… It doesn't look like dad is going to make it home again tonight."

"Rin Rin!" Her father called eagerly waving from across the destroyed street. He was near an upturned van with bits and pieces of the turtle in his other hand. There was enough for skin samples, blood samples; the DNA would all be intact.

"Come help daddy pick up the little turtle pieces!"

"Ok dad," she said sighing heavily. Only her father could think picking up pieces of freshly exploded turtle could be "family time."

"Now I'm not going to make it home tonight either…"

"I could help if you want," Dib readily offered. He was eager to meet her father after what he'd just seen and maybe get acquainted with some of the paranormal investigators in the Throbbing Fist network.

Zim scratched his chin wondering how difficult it would be to erase the man's memory of anything paranormal… he had tried something similar on Dib, but it hadn't really worked out.

"You better go before my dad sees you," Rin told Zim before turning back to Dib. "I'll invite you over sometime this week. If you meet him now, he'll be too engrossed in his research to remember you later. That's just how he is."

"Oh… alright," Dib said sounding a little disappointed. He wanted to show the man the alien space craft that had landed outside his house. It had taken a while for him to get it fixed, but with a little help from Gaz, it was now fully functional. He had used it a few times to stop Zim's evil plans, but if the Throbbing Fists took him seriously…

When he decided to take a break from his thoughts, he discovered that he was standing alone on the side of the street. A water line burst spewing water all over his trench coat. He was forced to walk home completely drenched… so it had been a usual day after all.

* * *

Author's notes: This was the introduction thing for Rin's father and a half-hearted attempt at Dib and Zim friendship which obviously failed. 

Did I meantion I have Exams? Yes? Ok good. Thic fic with romance? Don't get your hopes up.

The beginning of this chapter was meant to probe Rin's mind a little and maybe to answer the question "why is she so nice anyway?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's notes:** More studying for... exams... Ughh I'm going to die! Oh well. At least I still have my sanity. I may or may not have time to update this week, but I followed through on my promise and delivered two chapters for this week. Did I even promise that..? Oh well, no matter. It's all good.

Which reminds me about the disclaimer! I do not own Invader Zim, Scary Monkey, Dib, Gir, Ms. Bitters, the students, the Skool, candy sticks (though I wish I had some), or Gir's waffles. I do however claim Rin and her father as my origionals.

**Killer Squid of Doom**

A girl had raised her hand during Dib's rant which was supposed to have been his essay. It was mostly just a list of reasons why Zim was an alien.

"Can we just send him to the crazy house for boys again?" the young girl asked, and the rest of the children agreed. They were getting tired of hearing about Dib's crazy ideas. They wanted him fixed once and for all. (If that was even possible) Zim went along with it too, leaving Rin the only one left to defend poor Dib who looked like he was about to snap.

She had received a zero on her presentation, so her spirits weren't as high as they'd been yesterday. In some ways, Dib reminded her of her father who was also very eccentric about the paranormal. Before she could second guess herself, since she had already seen Ms. Bitters reaching for one of the insanity slips; she decided to do something a little drastic.

"But aliens are real," Rin insisted raising her voice as she stood up on her chair. She would refuse to implicate Zim of course, but maybe if she could convince them that there was at least the possibility of alien life, they'd forget about sending Dib to the "crazy house."

Zim gave her a strange look. So she was going to accuse him too was she…? He bit back a growl and folded his arms across his chest, waiting to hear the words which could very well destroy his mission. Together they might even be able to capture him right there in the class room… He looked around worriedly at the other children who were all staring at Rin now.

"I mean, maybe Zim isn't an alien, but why do you insist on denying the possibility of alien existence?" she bit her lip… well, here goes nothing.

"My father has a whole bunch of alien life forms at my house!"

Eyes widened as the children stared at Rin disbelieving. Even Zim looked surprise.

"Sit down Rin," Ms Bitters ordered irritably. These outbursts in her class had to stop.

"No, not until my father's hard work is recognized…" she said folding her arms over her chest. Pretending to be cocky wasn't really her strong point… The room suddenly changed to a deep red colour and Ms. Bitter's body contorted oddly as she growled threateningly at the young student. This was enough to shut Rin up who sat back in her seat and folded her hands neatly on her desk. Her little plan had worked, and no one seemed to remember wanting to send Dib to the crazy house. Still, she didn't say another word all class.

Of course no one believed her, thank goodness. That could have been very awkward.

The bell rang shortly after, and the girl jumped out of her seat and piled her notebooks into her backpack. Everyone was whispering about her outburst, or at least, it seemed like everyone was whispering about it.

"Why did you do that?" Dib questioned carrying his backpack over one shoulder. He had been spared the asylum thanks to her… No one had ever done that before.

"My dad moves around so much… it doesn't really matter," she reasoned with a smile. "Anyway, I don't think you're completely crazy... maybe a little, but you don't know how to deal with your frustration very well."

"I don't?" Dib brought a finger to his chin as he thought about this for a moment. It was frustrating when no one took him seriously… but he had started to believe that everyone was right; that he was actually crazy.

"But he talks to himself!" One of the boys in the class said.

"Yeah, and he's always talking about stupid ghosts or aliens," another interjected.

"Everyone talks to themselves, and ghosts and aliens aren't stupid," Rin stated as looked at her fellow classmates crossly with her arms folded over her chest. "Everyone has different interests… sharing them with others shouldn't be a problem."

Hadn't they ever thought that maybe the reason why Dib talked to himself was because he didn't have anyone else to talk to?

Dib stared at her wide-eyed in surprise. His life had been hard so far, dealing with a violent and moody younger sister as well as trying to follow his dreams which displeased his father… It wasn't fair. Everyone always looked down at him. He was the "crazy kid;" his father's "insane son." Then he remembered Tak, and he eyed Rin strangely.

"You aren't an alien are you?"

"What…?" She gave him a look of confusion. "Of course I'm not an alien. My father studies in that area... that's all."

"Why though…? I mean...you didn't have anything to gain from helping me."

"I don't need anything Dib. I'm perfectly content with the way things are now."

A shriek echoed down the hall, and both Dib and Rin left the classroom to see what was going on. Melvin was running down the hall flailing his arms wildly. There were squids following behind; their eyes glowing red as their small beaks clacked menacingly.

"Zim!" Dib accused grabbing Rin by the hand. "He must have created some kind of mutated squid and released them into the Skool."

"That doesn't really make sense…" Rin said in confusion.

"Hardly anything he does make sense," Dib remarked. "Have I ever told you about the worm-hole he sent us into? It led to a room with a moose!"

He ran towards the main doors tugging Rin along behind him. They needed to get to his father's lab. There he could find a way to combat the evil invading squid monsters.

They made it safely to Dib's house and went downstairs to his father's lab where Dib was able to find his laser weapon that could be used for killing the genetically altered squid. It looked like a gun with a few strange attachments added on to the middle section. Dib had made the weapon a while ago in hopes of using it on Zim. The squids would have to do for now.

Luckily his father had been too busy to notice it… usually the scientist would have thrown something like that out.

"What about Zim?" Rin asked looking around at all the strange objects lying around the underground laboratory.

"You're right… he could have some sort of brain controlling device on them… one of us will have to enter his base. Rin, can you call your father? Maybe he could get the Throbbing Fists..."

"Dib, I'm not a part of my father's organization. I can't just call them… it would be rude."

"Hmm..." Dib placed a hand on his chin as he thought about what to do next.

"Alright, then I guess it's up to us."

They went back upstairs and passed by the living room where Gaz was playing one of her handheld games. Rin hadn't noticed her there before… even though she was sure they had passed by on the way in. The child was so engrossed in her game that she didn't even look up when her brother and Rin rushed passed her.

Dib had decided that the best course of action was for Rin to use the gun against the squid while he infiltrated Zim's base. The girl hadn't agreed, so he switched rolls with her. He drew her a crudely drawn map to the Irken's hideout, and Rin finally agreed to at least try to help out.

"If it gets too dangerous…" Dib began sounding unsure for a moment.

"I'll call you," Rin replied smiling as she held up the communicator Dib had given her.

"Alright, there's no time to lose."

The front yard to the small house had been destroyed. There was nothing there but black ash which led all the way up to the doorway. The door was partially open, but Rin knocked anyway. She wouldn't go barging into another's home, even if the other did happen to be an alien.

"Hello," A small green dog greeted poking its head out the door.

"Is Zim home?" she asked, and the creature bounced a bit.

"Nope, he's gone to destroy the humans and stuff," the little dog answered. "Wanna come in?"

" Uhh.. Sure. If that's ok."

The plan had been for her to confront Zim if he was home controlling the squid thingies. If he wasn't home, she was supposed to go to his underground base and "hack into," or in this case ask the computer about Zim's plan.

"Can I go downstairs?"

"Wanna have some popcorn!?" the excited dog looking creature asked running into the kitchen. It returned seconds later with a bowl and held it out to the girl.

"Thank you…" she said; her eyes wandering around room. It seemed normal enough, but when she looked into the kitchen and saw a toilet sitting out in the open, she knew that this wasn't a normal house. No one would have their toilet sitting out in the open like that…

"I'm watching the Scaaary Monkey show! Come watch with me?"

Rin took a handful of popcorn before sitting on the couch. Oh well… Dib couldn't get too angry at her.

An hour went by and Gir had been sitting relatively quiet as he watched all of his "favourite shows." Rin glanced towards the door when she heard someone approaching; the little dog with the giant zipper didn't seem to notice who ever it was.

"Gir! What did you do out there!?" Zim demanded as he entered the house. His eyes narrowed, and he pointed an accusing finger at Rin. His clothes were a mess, his human disguise was gone, and he was covered in bruises. He was in no mood to deal with the human filth in his house!

"And what is this human girl doing here!?"

"She's watching TV with me," Gir replied still staring at the screen. "I'm gunna make waffles soon!"

Zim's eye twitched as he barred his teeth at Rin who sat up straight.

"You, what did you see!? Have you touched anything!?" Zim yelled pointing angrily at Rin.

"No nothing," Rin answered raising her hands defensively. "I promise."

He was exhausted… Dib had destroyed most of the squid, but there was still some running around the Skool. Their existence had been a mere accident. How was he supposed to know that the large demon squid thing he'd been experimenting on was female!? Getting rid of them at the Skool hadn't been such a great idea, he admitted to himself. His voot had crashed, and he had been blasted by Dib's gun lasers. His red eyes drooped wearily, and his anger dissipated as he went to sit on the couch next to Rin.

"Bad day..?" she questioned handing Zim some of the candy sticks Gir had brought out earlier.

He stuck on in his mouth and slumped in his seat, folding his arms across his chest as he stared blankly at the television. Why didn't she capture him…? He was tired enough not to put up much of a resistance.

"Yeah," he said chewing on the candy. "Zim would wipe your memory… but my arms… Zim can't feel them."

"Why do you do this Zim?"

The question was sudden, and the Irken's antennae flattened in annoyance.

"Zim was a scientist once…" he finally replied huffing as he folded his arms across his chest and curled closer against the couch.

_Crash _

The door flew open and Dib walked in with the gun still strapped to his back. When he had found out Rin hadn't made it home, he'd come straight to Zim's base in order to "rescue her."

Gir, and Zim looked away from the TV to see who had broken into their home. Zim was too tired to be angry though, so he simply turned back to the television set. So the human's plan had been to ambush him…

"Gir, activate the base's defences," he said.

"There you are Zim! Thought you could get away did you?" Dib paused when he saw Rin sitting on the couch. She didn't appear to be hurt, but he couldn't really be sure... Maybe he was too late! She could have some sort of brain control device already implanted in her!

"I guess I should probably get going now," Rin spoke as she slid from the couch. "Thanks for inviting me Gir, bye Zim."

"Not a problem," the little green dog replied looking pleased. He waved good bye and grinned cheerfully.

Before Dib had a chance to protest, Rin grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the house.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Dib questioned loudly as Rin dragged him passed the gnomes. Their voices quickly faded away.

They left…? Humans were confusing! If they had been planning to capture him, they could have… Zim's red Irken eyes narrowed slightly. Maybe they were planning something else… Whatever it was, he would be ready for it.

More notes: Here is a version of Rin and Zim friendship attempt. It might have worked if Dib didn't come crashing through the door like that… oh well. Did you see the reference to "A Room with a Moose?" I like making references. The candy is the same kind from "Hamstergedon." Did I spell that right? I'm not going to point out all the references, so no worries.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Rules of Skool**

"Dodgeball!" Their overly heavy PE teacher hollered before blowing his whistle. They were in the gym today since the weather was bad. It had been storming since early that morning.

Their teacher (who looked like he mutated with a walrus) moved his fat body out of the way as rubber balls began flying back and forth. If the weather had been clear today, they probably would have played bludgeonball. That game seemed to be their teacher's favourite, even though it took forever for the balls to fly through the air and only two kids could play at a time.

Rin and Zim had been placed on the same team. They stood together watching as the other children were hit by the balls. Some of them took the hits hard and crash landed onto the floor while others were simply tapped by the balls and left the "battleground" that way.

A ball flew towards Rin's head, but she was able to leap out of the way. Zim also avoided the hit, but he was struck down shortly after. Another ball came, and Rin leapt again… This strange dance continued for only a few minutes until one of the boys with better aim nailed her in the torso. She fell to the floor winded, adding to the bodies scattered across the gymnasium. Children moaned as they writhed in pain…

"Rin..?" Dib questioned, and the girl looked up to find him staring down at her.

"Dib… what are you doing on my team's side…?"

"Actually, we changed sides a little while ago… do you want me to call the nurse?"

"No, I'll be fine…" she replied forcing herself into a sitting position. A ball came and struck her in the head.

Now she was out cold.

Everyone was sore after dodge ball… and the children slowly filed into Ms. Bitter's classroom whining and moaning about their scrapes and bruises.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Dib asked Rin for the third time since PE had ended. A part of him still couldn't believe that she was actually letting him talk to her still.

"I was only out for five minutes…" the girl answered with a half-smile. "A lot of kids were hit harder than me… Oh, and you have a bruise on your head."

Dib reached up and felt the large purple mark above his eyebrow. So that's why his head hurt… For some reason he couldn't remember getting hit there. She glanced over at Zim who had been walking faster and was about to pass them.

"Are you still in one piece Zim?" she asked as her vision began to blur. She blinked once and shook her head in hopes of clearing her vision before class.

"Of course silly earth-pig," Zim replied. "Those primitive earth play-things couldn't do any real damage to Zim!" He squinted a little at the two humans, and then began to laugh.

"Your skin is turning blue human stink!"

Dib was about to say something snappy back at him, but Rin started to laugh too.

"How is that funny?" he asked Rin who gave him a sheepish grin before shrugging. Her smile faded when they reached the classroom however… She really hoped they weren't doing math... or writing another essay. Science was one of her better courses, even though she didn't have much of an interest in it. The only other thing she really liked was…

"Today we're going to be making something you children might call "art," Ms. Bitters said just as Rin, Dib and Zim entered the class.

"Your horrible scribbles are not art," Ms. Bitters continued slapping a paper down on Dib's desk. She worked her way down the isles handing out paper; Zim was the last to receive one, and he gave the blank page a distasteful look before slouching in his seat.

"You can draw whatever you want… just keep it within the Skool rules. That means no gore or large weapons of doom, and Rin," Ms. Bitters turned to the young girl who stared up at the teacher with curious eyes.

"Try to draw something good."

"Will you fail me if I draw something cheerful?" Rin questioned eagerly gripping her pencil. Art had always been one of her favourite things about Skool.

"You do that at your own risk…" Ms. Bitters replied as she headed back to her desk. She sat down and began muttering something about bunnies, and how she would doom the next child who drew one.

"I don't think Ms. Bitters likes you very much," the boy who was sitting behind Rin told her in a hushed whisper.

"She is the most negative teacher I've ever had," Rin admitted quietly to the boy. She sighed and began sketching a few lines here and there on the page… Suddenly inspiration struck and she erased the mess she created to draw something proper. When she was done, a black outline of a man stood with his arms folded; his eyes stared meaningfully back at the person looking at him as though he were searching for something.

When all else failed, she could always rely on drawing her family members, though recently she seemed to end up sketching her father more often than anyone else. He was very inspiring; she had to admit as she brushed the left over eraser from the page.

Her eyes drifted over to Dib's piece of paper… He had drawn a picture of Bigfoot. That was no surprise… Curiously she leaned over a bit in her chair to catch a glimpse of Zim's page. The alien had drawn the clock on the wall.

Well… he did stare at it a lot… especially near the end of class.

The bell rang for lunch, and this time the hall monitors forced Rin, Zim, and Dib into the cafeteria. They even confiscated her bagged lunch. Apparently bringing lunch from home was against "Skool spirit." Despite being a little unwilling, Zim grabbed a tray like he had done in times before… mimicking human behaviour was really annoying.

"I'm not eating this food… I'm sorry," Rin said loud enough only for Zim and a few other students to hear.

"Hm..?" Zim gave the girl an odd look. "What do you mean? All these worm babies eat this filthy food."

"Be careful what you say Rin," Dib warned the girl, and he quickly ushered her to a table. A floating camera slowly drifted passed them, and Dib sighed in relief when it didn't stop at their table. He pointed at it and began his explanation of "Skool spirit" and how she could be taken away if the cameras caught her saying something about the Skool's horrible conditions.

"Just take a few mouthfuls," Dib encouraged her with a smile. "That'll be enough to satisfy them."

"Satisfy who…?" Rin asked in disbelief. How could a Skool be this controlling?

Dib shrugged. "The principle I guess… and maybe the counsel members."

Gaz sat next to Dib, still playing her GameSlave 2. She glanced up at Rin only once and muttered something under her breath. She had brought a tray of food to the table, though she didn't look like she had any intension of eating it.

"I guess I better go grab a tray then" Rin said having accepted Dib's explanation. She got up from the table and quickly joined the cafeteria line. The cook lady scooped some black slop onto her plate. It smelled awful…

She was going to return to Dib's table, but he was already talking with Gaz. (who didn't really seem to care what he was talking about, but still, Gaz was his little sister) He seemed pretty happy content in talking with her. Rin's eyes wandered over the room, and she noticed that Zim was sitting by himself. He seemed fairly content sitting there prodding the black mush with his fork. After the incident with Keef, Zim had decided that it would be better not to have a friendship with any of the earth creatures. It was annoying. He didn't need it.

Rin didn't know this, so she sat across from Zim who didn't even glance up from his plate. He was too focused on trying to stop the black mush from crawling off his fork.

"You're going to eat this stuff too Zim?" Rin asked, and the alien finally glanced away from his plate long enough to notice her.

"Yes, yes I am," He replied almost proudly.

Rin gave in and scooped some of the mush into her mouth. It tasted like… burnt potatoes?

"What ever happened to soda machines and potato chips?" she asked after gagging on the gross food for a while. "I think… my liver is failing…"

"Why are you over here earth monkey?" Zim questioned having finally succeeded in subduing the food on his plate long enough to get it in his mouth. He began choking on the horrid "worm food" and fell off his seat.

After crawling back up to the table, he gave Rin a puzzled look before glancing over at Dib who was glaring at him angrily.

"I thought you were sitting with the Dib-beast."

"He's ok. Gaz is with him," was her reply, but this answer only confused Zim more.

"Huuh?"

"It'd be better if we could all sit together," Rin admitted becoming rather interested in the food on her plate.

"Never!" Zim shouted making a fist and waving it in the air. "That Dib has caused Zim nothing but trouble! The first day of Skool he chased me with alien trapping handcuff things, and since then he's been foiling a lot of my plans for world domination!"

"I see…" Rin replied. She lowered her head a little when she realized everyone in the cafeteria was staring at Zim. "Sorry, I didn't realize you disliked him so much."

"Well now you know stupid human…" Zim said in a much quieter voice. "Now shut up and eat your filthy human food."

Rin hadn't expected Zim to react so harshly. She lowered her head even more and continued to play with her food without saying a word. Children began heading outside, and Zim jumped up to follow them. He turned back when he realized Rin wasn't moving, and he walked over to her looking a little uncertain.

"You aren't going to stay in this filth-hole are you?" he questioned, and the girl raised her head a little.

"Of course not… I was just thinking that both you and Dib have quite a bit in common. It's too bad that neither of you realize it."

"Stop your thinking!" Zim stated irritably.

The girl bit her lip and turned away from the alien. She had said something offensive again… It was difficult trying to befriend both Zim and Dib. They hated each other so much, yet she was trying her best to befriend both of them. Maybe it was a bad idea to attempt such a thing.

"Rin-human, your species are very confusing, and as much as Zim would like to say he knows everything about stinky humans…" he stopped when Rin stood up and began heading towards the cafeteria doors.

"Apology accepted Zim," she replied with a smile as she left the cafeteria.

"Zim was not apologizing!" he hollered waving his fist in the air.

Outside, the courtyard was filled with happy playing children. Some of them were have fun with the tetherball, and others were playing hopscotch or shooting hoops. The ones who weren't doing any of that were either on the swing set or the playground. Gaz and Dib were the only exceptions. They were both sitting under a tree, Dib was talking non-stop, and Gaz was playing her GameSlave 2. She was always playing that game… Rin wondered if the girl ever put it down.

She was about to head over to Dib when she heard someone shouting…

"Hey, new girl!" a girl on one of the swings called. "Come swing with me, I saved you a seat!"

Rin glanced over her shoulder, but found that Zim wasn't there… She looked up at the darkened clouds swirling above her. He must have gone off to do something else since it looked like it could rain at any minute. If the girl wanted to talk, Rin wouldn't say no.

She sat down next to the girl on the swing. She wasn't in Ms. Bitter's class, so she was probably a grade younger. The little girl wore pigtails and a plaid skirt with a buttoned up sweater.

"I'm surprised you haven't made any friends yet," the girl said as she slowly swung back and forth.

"I did though…" Rin replied as she started to swing. "I'm friends with Dib… at least, I think I am…"

"He's crazy," the little girl said wrinkling a brow. "Why'd you want to be a friend with someone who's crazy?"

"Why do you care who I'm friends with?" Rin questioned her. "Dib seems nice enough to me."

"'cause… I want to be friends with you."

"You can, but you'll have to accept that I'm also going to be friends with Dib…"

The boy was looking at her now. It seemed like he had been about to come over to her, but when he realized that she was talking with someone else, he lowered his head and stayed where he was. Just because he didn't have any friends didn't mean Rin couldn't have any.

A shadow fell across him, and he looked up to find Rin standing there with a smile on her face. She had seen him wanting to come over to her, so when he didn't, she went to him.

"I want to be friends with you Dib… I'm not going to ignore you and pretend you don't exist just because someone else wanted to talk to me."

"Rin…?" Dib couldn't believe it. Even though she had been offered friendships with "normal people," she had chosen to remain friends with him.

"Hey Rin," the little girl said. She had jumped off her swing and had come to talk to the girl despite her close proximity with the "crazy boy."

"Maybe you could play with me tomorrow?"

"Sure Layla," Rin replied with a smile.

The little girl squealed, and then skipped off towards the swing set where she began talking to a little boy with frizzy orange hair. That's when Dib realized that he had a true friend. He actually had a friend. This was wonderful!

* * *

**Author's notes:** Rin is not an outcast. mwaah. I love the reviews by the way. They're delicious!

I forgot to meantion this is my first Invader Zim fic! Yes it is, though it will not be my last. I have so many ideas for this! So many ideas playing around in my brain. I love it. As a reward for... me being happy, I shall post more chapters this week. Yeah.. I have many chapters that need posting.


	6. Chapter 6

**You all know the Disclaimer right? I'm getting lazy, so lets just pretend its on this page.**

Even though I am a bit lazy, I thought it was about time I addressed some of my reviewers.

**MadeUpFigment,** thanks for correcting my horrible grammar for the first two chapters. You helped me a lot.

**HeCallsMeHisChild,** Yay, I was glomped. Very good. I like being rewarded for my updates. I love you stories by the way; I've been reading them lately. Your ideas are amazing.

**LostWitch5,** You don't have to worry, I will continue to update every Sunday at least.

**Striga-kun,** I have complete confidence that you will find an awesome idea for an Invader Zim Fanfic. Actually, you probably already have one.

I'm glad most of you seem to like Rin. I wasn't sure if she was going to work out or not, but I guess she's doing fine. By the way, I enjoy the word "awesome."

**

* * *

****Gir's Happy Fun Date with Sara**

Gir was running back to his master's home base with a bag of noodles in his little doggy paws. He had other disguises, but this was his favourite! Sometimes he thought he never wanted to take it off, but then he did, but not when he made waffles. Those were good. Really good! He had bought hotdogs today though because he ran out of waffle stuff, and he had eaten tacos all day yesterday.

He stopped when he saw a human doggie coming towards him. "Hi puppy you wanna hotdog!?" Gir asked pulling out one of his snacks and holding it up for the animal. The dog was a light brown colour, and it had floppy ears just like Gir. The robot decided that he liked this doggie. He wanted to take it home!

The dog took the hotdog out of the small robot's hand, and Gir squealed in delight. This startled the animal, and it backed away before placing the food on the ground and eating it. This idea seemed like fun to Gir, and he dropped another hotdog from the bag and started eating it off the ground on all fours. He licked up the ketchup too, just like the doggie did.

"I like you!" the robot said patting the dog on the head. "We're going to have so much fun! We can roll on the floor and break stuff, and I make waffles! You like waffles puppy? I do! They taste gooood!"

Tilting its head, the animal watched Gir curiously for a moment, tail wagging as it turned its attention back to the bag.

Gir began running again, but the dog didn't follow. It sniffed the air and wandered in the other direction. When the robot noticed this, he came to a stop and rushed back over to the animal with another hotdog in his hands.

"Come puppy, home is this way, you'll liiike it!" Gir urged waving the hotdog in front of the creature's nose.

The dog took the hotdog in its mouth before turning and running away. Gir followed after it, yelling at it to come back, but the animal didn't listen. It kept going. The little green dog looking thing, which was Gir, chased the dog until it came to rest on the porch of a house. It lay down and began munching on the hotdog just as Gir made it to the stairs.

"You're fast! Fast! That was fun!" Gir cheered grabbing onto the startled animal's neck. With a whimper, the dog stood up with the little robot hanging from him and pawed at the door.

A man answered, and he let the dog walk inside with the green thing still clinging around its neck.

"What have you got there Sara?" he asked grabbing the disguised robot and holding it eye level.

"Some sort of alien device? Where did you get this…?"

"Hi! Hi! Hi!" Gir exclaimed waving happily.

Rin rubbed her eyes sleepily as she approached her father who was staring in wonder at this odd robot creature. She gasped, recognizing it as the robot she had seen on Zim's communicator. What was it doing at her house?

"Dad?" she questioned looking innocently up at her father. It was only a matter of time before he found one of them… "Could you please let me take Gir back to his house?"

At first her father seemed shocked at this proposal, but he smiled and set the little robot on the ground.

"It belongs to that alien friend of yours doesn't it?"

Rin glanced up surprised at her father's reaction. He was going to let it go? Back when he was younger he never would have let anything slip by him, or so her mom had said. Even Rin had seen how devoted he was to his work.

"Yes… I know their not human, but that doesn't mean they should be treated worse than anyone else."

"You've got the gift back my daughter," he replied patting her affectionately on the head. "All I've ever wanted you to do was open your mind to the possibilities out there, and it seems this alien has done that. In return, I won't turn him over to the authorities unless the Throbbing Fists consider him a threat."

He patted her on the head. "No child of mine will grow up without the belief in paranormal activity!"

Gir had wandered into the living room where two boys were watching TV. The disguised robot jumped up on the couch and sat beside the youngest.

"Whatcha watching?" Gir asked staring at the screen.

"Cartoons," the second youngest replied.

"Ooo! It's my favourite show!" Gir squealed stealing some of the popcorn that had been left on the couch.

Rin stepped in front of the television set, and all three of them groaned as they strained to see around her.

"I'm taking you back to Zim, ok?" she asked the robot who sulked a little in his seat.

"I wanna watch this first!" It said.

The show was only a half an hour long, so Rin agreed to let him stay long enough to watch. When it was over, she picked the robot up and headed to the door. For some reason her younger brothers hadn't thought there was anything unusual about this… Her father had brought odd things home before. Gir wasn't really heavy either. Maybe it was missing a few pieces?

Gir squealed happily and kicked its feet as Rin carried it along the sidewalk. She hoped that the directions the robot had given her were right… she didn't really want to get lost out here, and it was very possible that she could get lost, even though she had been to Zim's house before.

"Wheeeee!" Gir exclaimed laughing. Then suddenly it curled up in her arms and fell asleep.

She tried waking Gir who was mumbling about waffles in its apparent sleep, but this turned out to be no good.

The yard had a small fence, and there was a plastic flamingo sticking out of the lawn. The gnomes looked a bit creepy, but she had already committed herself to bringing the little robot home. There were no black smouldering things lying around. Zim must have cleaned up since the last time she was over… which was about two days ago. It was the weekend, so she hadn't got to see Dib or Zim in the past few days.

As soon as she set foot on the yard, she could have sworn she saw the lawn gnome's eyes move. They were looking at her. She moved quickly and walked up to the door. Yes, they were definitely looking at her. She shifted the sleeping Gir in her arms to reach the doorbell.

A few moments after ringing it, an odd sound came from the house. It was the sound of turning gears and metal at work… The door flung open and a crudely made robot man stood in the doorway hunched over.

"Hello son!" he greeted.

"Uhh… is Zim home?"

"Zim? Oh sure. I'll call him for you," he turned around and placed a metal clamp looking hand to his face. "Zim! Someone's here to see you!"

The robot man was forced back to wherever he'd come from, leaving the door open. She stood there waiting for Zim to come to the door. It was taking a little while because he had been in his underground lab, and he needed time to put his disguise on.

"What is it?" He asked peering out the door. "Gir? What are you doing?"

With a yawn, the robot stretched and leapt out of the girls arms. It landed in front of Zim looking cheerful as always.

"I was on a date with a doggie monster!" it said happily before prancing inside. "We ate hotdogs and ran around town!"

"He followed my dog Sara home," Rin explained.

"Yes. Yes I did," Gir stated almost proudly.

"Oh…" Zim stared at Rin for a moment then turned angrily to his mischievous robot. "Gir! How many times do I have to tell you to come straight home!?"

The robot shrugged "I dunno."

"Gir didn't blow his cover did he?" Zim asked casually, though he was a little worried.

"My dad saw him, but I don't think he'll try to expose you… he thinks we're friends."

"Ha!" Zim laughed. "As if Zim would ever befriend a smelly earth pig!"

"Yeah… that's pretty silly huh?" Rin asked, but there was something wrong… Something had changed in her voice. "Anyway, I better get home. My mom wants my dad and me to cook dinner today as an apology for missing dinner that day… and then I missed it again yesterday."

"I wanna go on a date with doggie again!" Gir said bouncing around happily.

"No more dates for you Gir!" Zim shouted as he slammed the door in Rin's face. She stood there stunned before turning to leave. She had just reached the end of the walkway when Zim called to her from the doorway.

"Rin-human!" he called keeping Gir away from the door with his foot. He paused, knowing that he should say something… some kind of acknowledgement. What did humans say? He couldn't remember.

"You did Zim a good service," he told her searching for a way to express what humans would call a "thank you."

"You have pleased Zim!"

Rin smiled and waved goodbye as she continued to leave. Maybe her parents would let her cheat and order something from MacMeaties. She didn't really feel like cooking.

Beneath his earthen base, a signal flashed on the main screen of his computer. The Tallest were calling.

Zim shut the door and Gir fell on his face. Oh the things he would do to those stupid humans! But that could wait until tomorrow. He stretched and flicked on the television. Gir ran into the kitchen to fetch some snacks while Zim sat down to relax.

It was several hours before he realized that the Tallest were trying to contact him.

"Sorry my Tallest," Zim apologised. Both Red and Purple didn't seem very amused. Red had his arms folded, and Purple just looked generally cross.

"Zim, the Control Brains have decided that it would be fore everyone's best interest if you visited the planet Judgementia," Purple said.

"Ok…. Why exactly?"

Red and purple both looked at each other. They couldn't very well tell him the truth, but nothing else was coming to mind. Finally Zim would be destroyed, and they wouldn't have to worry about his foolishness any longer.

"Oh I get it. You want to give me a reward!" Zim finally decided, and both Purple and Red were quick to agree.

The transmission ended, and the Tallest snickered. How stupid could an Irken get?

"An Award!" Purple mocked.

"He thinks we're going to give him an award!" Red exclaimed through his laughter. Both of their expressions suddenly went blank when they thought about what this meant… an Irken was going to be destroyed. They were pleased it was Zim in some respects, but for an Irken's information to be deleted like that…

In reality, the Control Brains were going to have Zim publicly declared a defect before they re-download his data.

Red and Purple weren't really cruel, at least no crueller than any other Irken. When Zim had begged for another chance, they had sent him on a fake mission to keep him out of the way of both them and the Control Brains. They had hoped that his own stupidity would kill him before he ever landed on the planet, but this hadn't been the case. Ignorance really was bliss, but it was also really funny for everyone else on Irk. Zim was the only one who didn't know the truth about his supposed mission, and the Tallest had planned on not letting him find out for a long time, but it hadn't worked out that way.

"I'm going to see the Tallest," Zim announced stepping off the elevator when it reached the top floor. Gir glanced up from the nachos he'd been eating on the couch and grinned.

"Kay, bye bye master," he said munching on his nachos. Zim froze for a second, reflecting on all of the horrible things Gir could do if left alone…

What could he do to keep Gir out of trouble? Shutting him off was the first thing that came to mind, but no… Gir would never let him hear the end of it if he did that… He had gone to Rin's earlier, but the girl was a stinking human! If the Tallest could wait, he would see if Rin was worthy enough to care for his robot slave or something. There was no way he was bringing Gir along, not after the last time.

"On second thought… come with me."

It was very early in the morning, yet the doorbell had rung. Rin's eyes blinked open before forcing herself to sit up. Maybe her dad would get the door… Her mom was already working.

The doorbell rang again, and Rin rolled out of bed. Her father was probably already gone too, and neither of her brothers were going to get up to answer the door. She grabbed her house coat off her dresser and ran downstairs.

"Zim?" she questioned folding her arms around herself against the early morning chill. The alien was standing on her doorstep in his crudely made disguise. His robot Gir ran inside the house and flopped onto the couch where he found the remote.

"Is something wrong? It's really early."

"I need you to watch Gir while I'm gone human filth," Zim told her. His eyes narrowed. A part of him couldn't believe he was doing this. "Don't try to set foot in Zim's base. It will destroy you!"

"Ok, but where are you going? How long are you going to be?"

"Don't worry your tiny human mind," Zim replied gesturing in an uncaring manner. "Zim must speak with his leaders; I don't know how long I will be."

"But Zim… you're going to leave me Gir? Why? I'm a human... Why would you trust me with your robot?"

Zim ground his teeth and balled his hands into fists. She didn't have to remind him!

"Don't worry Zim…" she said quickly when she noticed the Irken's annoyed expression.

"Go and do whatever you need to do… I'll watch Gir until you come back."

* * *

**Author's Notes/Warning:** After this chapter, there will probably be alot and/or some Out Of Character-ness. It's probably not for the reason you're thinking. Yeah probably... but I don't know what you're thinking really, so I can't be sure. 

I wish they finished the Trial episode before the show was cancelled. I wanted to see it.

Yes, Gir is cute, and funny, and he is a pretty awesome character for the show. That's why I wrote this chapter. It was for Gir!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's notes: **I realized I was lacking in disclaimer.

**Disclaimer:** The Invader Zim cast, crew, objects belong to Nickelodeon I think, if you want to get technical, but they were spawned by Johnen Vasquez. I love that word 'spawned.' It sounds so spawned like.

* * *

**Purple, the Offset One **

"He left you his robot?" Dib questioned; his eyes widening at this idea. What was Zim up to?

"Yeah, he came by early this morning," Rin said gazing up at the sky. Who knew how far away Zim had to travel? He was probably many light-years away by now.

"It's strange that he'd trust me like that… I wonder how long he's expecting to be gone."

"Be careful Rin," Dib warned. Something about this didn't feel right. Then again, he never trusted Zim, and his leaders were incredibly… something. Also, he wanted to protect his only friend…

"Did I tell you about the time he almost killed me with piggies? He's probably planning… something. He might have programmed that robot to do something horrible. We should probably check out his base to see if he left his plans lying around."

"Shut up… can't you see…? I'm playing…" Gaz muttered angrily. She was sitting nearby playing with her GameSlave 2. Both Dib and Rin gave her a questioning look before wisely deciding to move somewhere else so they wouldn't disturb the girl's concentration. They hadn't even seen her come over.

Rin had tried befriending Gaz too, but this had proven an impossible task. Eventually, she had given up on the whole idea.

Skool hadn't started yet. It was early morning, and the children were waiting for the bell to ring. Some of them were playing hopscotch while others were swinging on swings and playing on the jungle gym. It was a perfectly normal day, and Zim wasn't there to destroy it.

As much as Dib had wanted to expose Zim, he decided that this wasn't a bad outcome either. At least with Zim gone the Earth was safe…. Maybe he could even convince Rin to give him Gir. The Swollen Eyeballs would definitely be interested in an alien robot.

"Rin," her father called skidding to a stop. He placed his feet down on either side of his bike to catch himself before giving her a grin. There were goggles on top of his head, and he was wearing long black gloves as well as camouflage pants, a turtleneck sweater with the same pattern as the pants, and large black hiking boots.

"You seem unwell today," he noted extending his hand to her. "Hop on, I'll take you home."

"Dad… you shouldn't follow me to Skool," Rin scolded. "And I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me."

"Nonsense," he replied with a smile. "Besides, that alien device you brought home is eating the furniture. I tried to catch it, but it escaped out one of the windows so I kind of need help finding it. Please? I'll excuse you from Skool!"

His eyes drifted to Dib who remained silently staring up at the man.

Dib couldn't believe it. Rin's father was perfect! Not only did he believe in the paranormal, he also dropped by the Skool just to see his daughter… ok, well it wasn't just to see her, but still. Professor Membrane would never do that for him or Gaz!

"You must be Dib," Rin's father greeted. "My name is Ron. Rin's told me a bit about you. Maybe we could sit down and discuss theories sometime."

"That… that would be awesome," Dib said with a grin.

The man returned his attention to his daughter and held out his hand for her again.

"I have a feeling the robot might have returned to the alien's house."

Rin took his hand, and he hoisted her onto his lap.

"Could I come?" Dib asked. "I've been inside before, I know what to expect!"

"Uhh… sure son," Rin's father replied. "Just grab onto the back bar thingy and hold on."

Ron's bike was faster than it appeared. He skidded around corners and zipped by people on the street as though they were standing still. Rin directed him to Zims house, and he peddled even faster when he saw it… this turned out not be such a good idea because his breaks hadn't really been up to par since the last turn. He tried to stop, but the brakes failed, and they ended up crashing through the window.

Rin's father had been correct to assume that this was where Gir would be. The small robot sat crying on the couch while stuffing his mouth full of candy.

Dib crawled out from under the bike where he'd been pinned, and he brushed some of the dust from his pants when he stood up. He hadn't been hurt at all surprisingly. Rin had been lucky; she landed on top of her father who had gotten his legs twisted in the bike somehow. He wouldn't be moving for a while.

"The poor thing looks unhappy," Ron noted as he lifted himself onto his elbows.

"He's been left alone on a foreign planet," Rin said going to comfort Gir.

"Are you alright Gir?"

"I wanna to go too…" it whimpered throwing its tiny arms around Rin as it continued to make crying noises. "I wanna go!" it screeched.

Even Dib felt sorry for the poor robot… Gir was usually pretty happy, but he was easily able to brush this feeling aside. None of this was his problem.

No defence systems appeared to destroy them. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to videotape Zim's base! He was about to pull out his camcorder when he noticed Rin giving him a disapproving look. He stopped and lowered his hand… maybe there'd be time to do that later.

Gir suddenly leapt up and pushed something near the strange alien monkey picture. A screen appeared, blinking as the transmission was made.

* * *

Purple was drinking an alien beverage as he stood at the front of their vessel. He sucked too hard on the straw however, and it became lodged in his throat. He choked and fell to the ground gripping his throat until he was able to swallow the small plastic tube. When he looked up, there was a call from Earth blinking on his screen. His expression was that of confusion as he moved to answer the call. Hadn't they told Zim to come? Surely he didn't suspect anything. 

The screen was already open. The humans had seen Purple's little… mistake, and the Irken stared at Dib; the only visible one at the moment.

"Did you see that…?"

The human on the screen nodded. Oh well... He cleared his throat. For some reason he felt more powerful when Red was around, but his fellow Tallest was preparing to meet with the Control Brains. Purple was planning on joining him later, after he'd finished a few snacks he'd kept hidden from Red.

Gir pressed his face close so that he took up the whole screen. "Hi Tallest!" he greeted with a dorky smile. His tongue stuck out and his glowing eyes curved happily.

"Why are you calling me?" Purple asked glancing over his shoulder to see if maybe Red had come in without him knowing. He wasn't there…

"I'm very busy uh… doing things," he tried. "Call back later."

Dib shoved Gir out of the way and glared at Purple who brought his hand to his chin. Something about that earth boy seemed familiar… his head was also rather large.

"I've got a few questions for you, alien scum."

Purple's large eyes shifted a little. He really wasn't sure what to say. What would Red say?

"Look… Earth-thing… I'm not going to answer any of your stupid questions," he said stubbornly. The feeling of the three sets of eyes staring at him was unnerving…

"Your eyes are very interesting," Rin told him; she was out of his view. Dib was standing in front of her, blocking the girl from Purple's vision. The Tallest's large round orbs were like Zim's, except they were a deep purple colour.

"W-What?" Purple stammered.

"Where did you send Zim?" She asked moving beside Dib so that she was in clear sight of Purple.

The Tallest's eyes narrowed at the child, and one of his antennae twitched slightly. "Why do you want to know that?"

Rin's father groaned as he finally freed himself from his bike. He stood up, and stepped into Purple's view. Zim had been right… grown humans really were tall. Purple stared at the man, and then shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Look… we've been trying to get rid of Zim for a while… we didn't think he would actually make it to your planet. You should be happy. He's been called back to be destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Rin questioned suppressing her emotions for now. She wasn't too sure how to feel anyway; she hadn't known Zim for very long, but he felt as much a friend as Dib… "Why would you do that?"

"I don't really want to get into it… let's just say he's a threat to our survival."

Purple rubbed one of his eyes lazily.

"Zim is registered here," Ron stated evenly. "He's in our database now which means that he is a part of Earth population as well."

"You would defend that defect…?"

"Defect?" Rin questioned biting her lip. "What makes someone a defect…?"

"Is he returning to his home planet?" Dib asked.

"Oh great Control Brains no," Purple shook his head. He had been listening to the girl too, but he decided to comment on what Dib had said.

"No. We simply requested his presence at planet Judgementia… If he doesn't get destroyed he will probably be sent back to Food Courtia."

Dib gave him an odd look. "You guys really aren't that creative with names you know."

"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with calling things what they are!"

"I guess that means… you're purple," Rin said with little thought, and Purple balked.

"What has Zim told you!?" He demanded.

"You mean… Purple really is your name?" Rin asked looking somewhat confused. "I guessed right?"

"Who are you talking to?" Red questioned casually from off-screen. He had only just entered the room.

Purple turned to look at him. "Some aliens from Earth. They're asking questions about Zim."

"Why are you talking to them? Turn the monitor off."

"Yeah, ok," Purple sighed as he gazed back at Rin, Dib and Ron. He had no intention of turning off the monitor. He'd only said that to keep Red quiet.

The girl was giving him an odd look… almost pleading. It was the same look Zim had given him and Red when he had so wishfully asked for another chance to prove himself. "If you really want Zim back… though I don't know why anyone would… You can try Food Courtia's Shloogorgh's Flavoured Monster."

"Thank you Purple," Rin said appearing some-what happier.

"I appreciate the trouble you took answering us…"

"Nah..." Purple replied looking somewhat bored. "It wasn't any trouble… Actually, to be honest, I'm not really doing anything right now."

"You're the leader over there aren't you?" Dib asked.

"One of them," Purple answered looking smug.

"And you have nothing to do!? Didn't you just say you were busy?"

"Dib, don't be rude," Rin whispered jabbing the boy in the side. She turned back to the monitor and found Purple watching them curiously. Glancing over her shoulder she found her father munching on some popcorn that Gir had brought from the kitchen. The robot was dancing around, pleased that the human was eating his cooking.

"Are you planning on taking over the Earth?" Dib questioned sounding almost eager. It would be kind of cool to defend the Earth from a whole bunch of aliens instead of just Zim.

"There's too much water," Purple replied, and he laughed. "That's why we sent Zim there! Earth is a useless planet to us!"

"Purple? Stop talking to them. You're giving away too much information."

"But I'm bored," Purple complained. "And it's going to take us a while to reach Judgementia."

Red's hand suddenly appeared and the monitor flicked off.

* * *

"Oh well," Dib shrugged before searching for an elevator that would take him to the bottom floor. If Zim was destroyed, the earth would be safe. Not to mention he could use the Irken technology left behind to fly further into space. 

Gir was again in the kitchen making something. He had forgotten all about speaking with the Tallest. Smoke bellowed overhead and the smell of burnt toast... though it was probably waffles since they seemed to be Gir's favourite. Waffles that smelt like burnt toast.

"Food Courtia huh?" Ron said scratching his chin. "I wish I could see that!"

"You can take the space ship in the lab!" Gir announced running back into the living room with a platter of burnt something or other. "My master made an extra one for some reason; it's been sitting there for a loooong time!" Gir turned to Dib and held up the plate to him. "Want some!?"

"That sounds like fun," Rin replied hugging her father's arm. " I know you'd have a good time out there, but what would mom say?"

"Oh, I won't be able to make it out there anytime soon," Her father placed his free hand on her head and tousled her hair. "You should go and see what's out there for me… I'll stay here and cover for you."

"Are you sure?" she asked in surprise. "It might be dangerous and… what if I can't make it back?"

"If that happens, call me," Ron answered hugging her close. "No matter where you are in the universe, I'll come find you."

Something heavy weighed in Dib's chest when he saw this… His father would never promise him anything like that. It hurt him sometimes knowing that his father cared more for his research than he did for his family. These feelings always got worse when he saw other children with their fathers, but his father was a very important scientist...

"You're curious too aren't you Dib?" Ron suddenly asked, and the boy nodded dumbly.

"Then you should go. As a fellow paranormal enthusiast, you would probably benefit the most… and I need someone in my field of study to see what's out there eh?"

* * *

**More Notes:** Ahem… If you watch Invader Zim you've probably noticed that there are more references to episodes of the show. 

Zim killing Dib with piggies is a reference to "Bad Bad Rubber Piggy." Zim going to attend a trial is from an unfinished episode. You won't find Mini Moose in this fic anywhere. The only episode I can remember seeing that little guy in is "the Most Horrible Christmas Ever," and he didn't seem really important or interesting. Sorry Mini Moose.

So Zim is going to find out about his fake mission. Will it be cliched? Will there be moutains of angst? Haa. I'm not telling you, but Gir angst, who'd a thunk it?


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's notes: **My titles are getting better, don't you think? Ah yes… a sudden thought… in Invader Zim's world, had POOP always existed in place of our products, or was there a time when everything was called Diet cola or Pepsi and something happened to make them change the name? Hmm… Why do I think such strange things?

**Food of Fury**

The question wasn't if they were going or not, that had already been decided. What they were worried about now was when they should go. It would be less conspicuous if they could leave sometime when Skool was out… but their next vacation was over two months away.

Dib had gone over to Rin's house to help her with her math homework. They had also started a project together on the Rainforest biome for their science studies earlier that week.

"I've got all the supplies ready," Dib said as he began cutting out a howler monkey from a magazine to put on their poster. "It took a while to get that other spaceship out of Zim's place… the computer wasn't cooperating."

"Did you tell your father about it?" Rin questioned. She was drawing the border for their poster which were mostly vines… there was a jungle flower too and other little things.

"He won't care," Dib answered. "He's too busy to know when I'm gone, but on the off chance he does find out I'm missing, he'll probably think I'm in another asylum somewhere. In any case, it will take him a long time to figure out I'm actually gone. "

"Rin…" her youngest brother whined sleepily rubbing his eye. "Mom says to come down stairs for supper."

"Were you sleeping in front of the TV again Cotey?" Rin questioned, and her brother answered her with a yawn.

Rin's mom invited Dib to stay for supper. Cotey and Max sat beside each other on the opposite side of the table. Her father sat at the head, and her mother opposite from her husband. This was what families were supposed to be like Dib decided as he sat next to Rin. Everyone was happy and smiling. They had conversations with each other. There were no explosions, and there wasn't a monitor that had their father's face drifting around the table…

When they had finished eating, Ron took them into his "office" and shut the door behind them. He flicked on a light, and Dib gasped. All around them were piles of evidence of aliens, UFOs, Bigfoot… the chances of all of it being accurate was very small, but Dib was still impressed.

"I want you to take some equipment on your trip," Rin's father began as he began searching for the items he'd made from alien objects. "Remember, if it gets too dangerous, come straight back… don't take strange foods from strange aliens…"

"I know dad," Rin interrupted her father's small rant. "We'll be careful."

"When are you leaving anyway?"

"We have Skool for another two months, so we won't be able to leave for a while."

"No problem, you'll both be with me at the Loch for a month, how does that sound?"

"A month? Will that be enough time?" Dib questioned.

"If you aren't back in a month, I'll come up with another excuse," Ron winked at him. "Don't worry."

They left later that day. Rin was inside Zim's backup voot, and Dib was piloting Tak's ship which Ron helped repair. They passed by the place where Mars should have been, the comet belt, Jupiter, Saturn, until their ships pulled away from the solar system and began flying into deep space.

Rin had never piloted anything before, but the voot had an autopilot installed. Dib had programmed it to travel to Food Courtia. It wove its way around stars and comets as though it was able to see what was in front of it and move accordingly. Dib had full control over his ship, but he followed closely behind Rin to make sure her spacecraft didn't fly into something harmful.

"How are you doing?" Dib asked over the ship's communication.

"I guess I'm doing ok," Rin said. She had brought a lollipop with her and was currently munching on it. Since she didn't have to control the ship, there wasn't much else she could do. The stars were pretty though.

"What if we run out of fuel?"

Dib balked, and straightened up in his seat. He hadn't even thought about that… these ships seemed to be fairly fuel efficient though... they ran on some kind of energy that Dib was able to reproduce only once. Tak's ship hadn't needed any since then, so he had forgotten about it.

"We won't" he reassured her. "We should probably pick up the pace though, if we want to make it there quickly. Set your autopilot to super fast mode. There should be a lever with red and green lines beside it."

"I see it… I think."

"Good, now push it forward until the red lines light up."

Rin's ship blasted forward, and Dib quickly did the same in order to catch up to her. There trip seemed to take forever, but neither of them could be sure how long they had actually been travelling through space when the saw a large sign that said "Food Courtia." Right below it in large green letters it read "OPEN."

Before they had a chance to see the planet from above, a strange force began to drag them in. Both spacecrafts came to a stop as the strange field caught them. Neither Dib or Rin were given time to react, and they found themselves falling.

Dib groaned and shook his head a little. The force of the landing had given him a headache, but the ship didn't seem to have suffered too badly. He crawled out and stood on top of the few billboards that had been dragged down years before when the Great Foodening first began… Both he and Rin had landed on these things.

His eyes widened when he looked to the street below. There was a giant line of strange aliens all pushing and shoving and shouting at one another as they fought to reach the building in front them. Dib had never seen anything so amazing!

"Rin! Come take a look at this!" he called to the girl who was emerging from her spacecraft. She stood up and went to stand beside him.

"Wow," was all she could think of saying. "I guess that must be an important building. Do you think we should stand in line?"

"I have a better idea," Dib replied as he began climbing down the twisted wreckage.

Sneaking in through the back had been Dibs "better idea." The doors were locked… probably bolted shut to keep impatient customers from using it. Rin's father had given them a laser weapon type thing, and Dib used it to make a small hole in the wall. They slipped in unnoticed, for the most part, until they were caught sneaking around the back by Gashloog. The oddly dressed Irken didn't have the power or the authority to throw them out, so he asked if they could wait in line instead.

"Sizzlor will get angry if he catches you back here," the Irken tried to reason with them.

"Sorry," Rin said lowering her voice. She didn't come here planning to make trouble for anyone, especially for a small worker alien.

"Is this some kind of fast-food place? Dib asked, and Gashloog gave him an odd look.

"If you mean we serve food quickly, then yes."

Dib clamped his hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Zim; the so called "great superior invader" was working at a fast-food restaurant.

"How's the pay?" Rin asked.

"Honestly, it's not the best. We lose a lot of help around this time too."

"I could help," Rin offered, and Gashloog gave her a friendly smile. No one was ever hired during the Foodening; it was just too overwhelming for most Irkens. These two weren't Irkens, but Gashloog was pretty sure that Sizzlor would hire them anyway. He always seemed to get pretty desperate during the time of the Foodening.

"He's at the cash," Gashloog said motioning over the large barrier which separated the kitchen from the front counter. Rin and Dib could see a large figure standing there, and Rin wasted little time climbing over the medium to speak with him. Dib climbed over too, but he had no desire to become an employee. He jumped over the counter and began taking notes on all the strange aliens he saw.

"Are you serious?" Sizzlor asked the young human who nodded in reply.

The large-bodied Irken scratched his head as he looked down at the strange creature before him. No one had ever offered to help during the twenty years of the Great Foodening… There were still 13 months left before it was over, and he really could use a break.

"Alright, go grab a uniform," the large Irken instructed. Gashloog appeared with an apron, goggles and hat, and Rin took them from him. She slid the hat on, it was a little too big so it kept falling over her eyes, but the goggled helped to keep it in place. The apron was a little less tricky, and once she had it tied around her waist, she went back to Sizzlor and took over the cash register after a brief explaination from Gashloog on how to read the Irken numbers on each of the keys.

A few hours passed, and Dib was getting tired of taking notes. He pushed his way towards the counter and found Rin punching away at the cash register while large aliens screamed about the quality of their food.

"Rin… what are you doing?" he asked.

"Helping," was her brief reply.

"I know… but why?"

"Because, they need help Dib… besides, if you want to buy any souvenirs out here, we're going to need their currency. If not for that, then at least this is some way of blending in."

"Oh… I never even thought of any of that. So you're blending in then? Right. Ok. I got it."

"Are you going to order something?"

"I don't know… everything looks kind of strange."

"I'll order you the Vort dogs then," she said punching it in on the cash register. "I've had a lot of orders of those, and they don't look that bad."

"What about the fries?"

"Trust me, you don't want the fries."

"Yeah… sure… you know I don't have any money on me right?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll have the monies deducted off my pay check… assuming I'm getting one. I might be a volunteer. I'm not too sure yet. "

Dib quickly sat down at a free table, ignoring the shouts of frustrated customers as they complained about the slow line up… it really wasn't moving very fast, and Dib had taken up a lot of Rin's time. The girl was still able to wear a smile though… despite the screaming aliens throwing their "unsatisfactory" food at her.

He was surprised when the tray with his order clattered onto his table. His eyes searched around to see who had brought it, but it appeared to have brought its self. Carefully, he took one of the worm looking things. It wasn't moving, so he tested it with his tongue. Nothing happened, and it didn't taste too awful. He forced himself to eat most of it for Rin who he caught glancing at him every once and a while. She was blending in pretty well, but what was he going to do? The idea of working here disturbed him greatly. A part of him wondered how Rin could handle it.

"You aren't doing too bad rookie," Sizzlor said returning from his break. "You get a five minute break. Then Gashloog can teach you how to use the equipment in the back…"

"Alright," Rin replied as she moved out of the large Irken's way. She walked by the long line and sat across from Dib who was still trying to finish the gross alien food. Rin pulled the bag away from him and stuck one in her mouth. She swallowed and brought another one to her lips. This continued until most of them were gone. She offered the rest to Dib who raised his hands and shook his head, refusing as politely as he could.

"You seem to be fitting in pretty well Rin," Dib admitted.

"A little bit of hard work can go a long way," she told him. Her body slumped wearily in her seat, but she perked up when she heard some sort of disruption in the back.

"Gashloog!?" Rin called getting to her feet and rushing into the kitchen. The poor little Irken had been thrown out of the way of two slightly taller Irkens dressed in what appeared to be some kind of armour.

"Are you alright Gashloog?" she asked going to his side. He sat up and remained in a stunned silence until he realized what had happened. These two Irkens were of higher rank than him; they had told him to leave, but he hadn't. Now he was in some kind of trouble.

The girl glared angrily at the taller Irken. How could they hurt poor Gashloog like that? He was only doing his job!

"You should be ashamed of yourselves for bullying Gashloog," she stated narrowing her eyes which were hidden behind the goggles.

Dib had snuck around back and stood watching, hidden behind some kind of food making device.

"What is this?" One of the armed Irkens questioned, pointing his axe at the young girl. "She isn't Irken!"

"The Fry Lord hired her as extra help sir," Gashloog replied.

"Gashloog…? You're not going to argue? They had no right to do that…"

"They're taller than me…" the short Irken replied quietly, keeping his eyes downcast. "There's nothing I can do."

"One of you call Sizzlor," one of the Irken soldiers commanded, and Gashloog quickly got to his feet and hurried out of the room.

"What race are you girl?" the other soldier asked; he sounded almost curious. Only now did Rin notice the silent figure standing partially hidden behind the two Irkens. Zim was being unusually quiet…

"I'm human," she answered staring intently at Zim. Green blood was dripping from his throat and his Pak had taken a lot of damage… she wasn't sure if the odd device sparking on his back had any relevance to the alien himself, but all the Irkens she'd seen had one..

The two soldiers gave each other a strange look before turning their attention back to the "human." The name sounded kind of familiar…

"I'm from Earth."

She received blanked stares…

"The planet your Tallest sent Zim to."

"Oh." Now they seemed to understand.

Sizzlor marched in looking rather irritated. He didn't like being interrupted when he was working. He was even less impressed when he saw Zim. The defect was more trouble than he was worth.

"What do you want now?" he demanded folding his arms over his chest as he waited to hear their explanation.

"The Control Brains attempted to re-download Zim's data, but for some reason, unknown even to them, they were unable to. We could have executed him on the spot, but the Control Brains decided to let him live a bit longer, because they've gone crazy. They've placed him back here. There is an exploding mechanism in his Pak so he won't be able to escape."

"Why hasn't he said anything yet?" Sizzlor asked looking mildly surprised. He didn't think that Zim would be the kind to go quietly against his will.

"The Tallest decided that things would go more smoothly if Zim was unable to speak."

Rin's eyes widened when she looked back at Zim. The green liquid falling from his neck… they couldn't have ripped out his vocal cords… could they?

Sizzlor's eyes fell on Rin. "You get back to work," he ordered when he noticed the girl's shocked expression. The last thing he needed was for his employees to be unable to work. Gashloog had already asked to take the day off, but he had been threatened into staying.

"I'll take care of this."

**More notes:** Stupid Skool always getting in the way… Sorry Ms. Bitters fans, but she's not going into outer space. Remember what happened when she was younger? The horrible implosion was horrible! Anyway, I like Gashloog even though he was only in one episode. That's why he's here. Who knows where the other two Irken employees went. They were probably smart and ran away before the Foodening.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: **You know, I really tried to keep them all in character for this…It is my biggest fear! OOC. So if it isn't working, I apologise. The feeling I got is that Dib would probably stop ranting and raving so much if he was submerged in alien culture… I mean he can't be like "omg aliens" when there are about half a million of them around. Uhh. Well actually he can, I guess, but he's not going to.

* * *

**The Problems with Exploding**

"Are you ok Rin?" Dib questioned. He was sitting on the counter with a strange alien version of a sandwich in his hand. He had snagged it from the kitchen before escaping unnoticed. It was strange that the Vort dogs seemed to have made him even hungrier than he was before. Probably some kind of cheap marketing ploy…

Rin had thrown herself into her work to keep her mind off what she had seen. She didn't even hear Dib who was sitting on the counter beside her. Sizzlor was too busy dealing with Zim to kick Dib out, so he remained sitting there despite the food that was being hurled around the place. It was also difficult to hear over the yelling, so he spoke louder.

"You don't look very good, maybe you should quit working."

"I can't Dib," Rin said biting her lip. "We need to get Zim out of here…"

"Why?" Dib asked leaning forward a little in surprise. "This is where he belongs Rin. You heard what his leaders said."

"But… they want him destroyed," Rin argued feebly.

"They probably have a good reason to want him destroyed I'm guessing, and so do we! He's been trying to enslave all human kind!"

"I know… I know that…" she said rubbing her forehead and uttering a sigh. "We don't really know much about their culture Dib. Maybe he wasn't taught how to do things properly."

"Why do you keep defended him!?"

"Because, he's a friend!"

"Friend!? He probably doesn't even know what that means!"

Surprisingly Rin was able to argue with Dib and work the cash register at the same time. She was using up a lot of energy today…. And arguing really wasn't helping. Her vision was starting to blur, and before she knew it, she had fallen face down on the floor.

"Oh my," one of the customers exclaimed peering over the counter. "Is she alright?"

The customers, for some reason, seemed to be more considerate towards Rin… perhaps it was because she was the only non-Irken working there, or it could be that she was civil even to the most horrid customers.

"Uhh yeah sure," Dib replied as he crawled off the counter and knelt by Rin's side. This must have woken her somehow, because before he could try to move her, she leapt up and went straight back to working the cash.

"I'm really sorry; please don't tell my manager I was sleeping on the job. Dib you're in my work space, could you please move out of the way? I don't want you to get in trouble, and you might if Sizzlor sees you back here."

Her words came quickly, and it took a moment for Dib to realize what she had said.

Gritting his teeth, he turned away with clenched fists. He was going to have to rescue Zim for her…but how? The Irken soldiers had said that there was something implanted inside Zim's Pak that would make him explode. What would make him explode Dib couldn't be sure, and he doubted that the soldiers would answer him if he asked.

He crawled back over the counter and found his way into the back room. This room was behind the kitchen area and it was dark and creepy looking. There was a sink for cleaning dishes, and that was the job Sizzlor seemed to be trying to get Zim to do. The Irken had already been forced into the restaurant's work clothes, yet despite being in obvious pain, some part of Zim still refused to listen. Sizzlor smacked him across the head, and Zim crumpled wearily. He had been put through a lot recently. He was getting tired of trying to fight it.

"Finish these up, and when you're done I want you to teach our new employee how to work the machines. Gashloog nearly took the day off because of you, and I can't afford to lose any help right now!"

Zim watched as his boss left the room before turning to the stack of dirty dishes. His antennae perked up underneath his work hat when he heard someone behind him. Dib had come out of hiding the moment Sizzlor had left, but Zim didn't turn around to see who it was. Instead, he carefully picked up one of the dirty plates and held it in his gloved hand as he fished around the soapy water for the cloth.

_This is stupid… _Dib thought to himself. Zim wouldn't be able to help him… he couldn't even talk.

"I can't say I envy you," Dib spoke quietly, and Zim glanced over his shoulder to see who was bothering him. Despite his predicament, Zim was only barely able to bite back a growl… until he realized that he couldn't growl anyway.

"You must have really messed up to get sent here."

Zim responded by barring his sharp white teeth at the human. There wasn't much else he could do.

"Look, I'm not here to play games Zim, I'm here to help you get out of this place," before Zim could jump to any conclusions he added "Rin insists on it."

The confusion in Zim's eyes was very clear. His antennae, which were hidden underneath his hat, drooped sadly when he thought about everything he'd lost… this was the closest to Irk he was ever going to get, and this realization pained him more than his malfunctioning Pak did or that horrible gouge in his neck.

"Zim!" Dib snapped, and the small Irken blinked.

"Those soldiers said something about your Pak exploding. What did they mean?"

Red Irken eyes narrowed angrily at the foolish human. Zim wouldn't be able to tell him anything.

Dib smacked his forehead. Of course…

"Ok then, I'll just have to figure it out myself."

He grabbed Zim by the arm and dragged him towards the back door in which Zim had entered the building. The Irken fought and caught a hold of something with his free hand to keep Dib from taking him any further. Stupid human…

"Will you explode if you leave the building then?"

Zim nodded, but he didn't dare release his hold on the counter. A part of his thought it would be easier just to explode and end it there… but maybe there was still a chance… he really wanted to believe this.

"Take the pack off then!"

The Dib-monkey didn't know how vital their Paks were to them… Zim glared at the boy through his goggles and folded his arms stubbornly.

"Fine, then I guess I'm going to have to tamper with it."

No way in Irk! Zim wanted to scream. If that stupid Dib monkey wrecked his Pak, he'd be killed! It would hurt his pride even more to die trying to escape than it would to kill himself!

He lashed out at Dib who stumbled backwards until he hit the wall.

"What the heck was that for!?" Dib demanded angrily. "I'm trying to help you Zim…"

Zim made a fist and glared menacingly at the bothersome human. If he could speak, he probably would have said something along the lines of 'filthy stinking human, Zim doesn't need your help.'

He had never been so angry in his life! His eyes widened when he realized he had forced Dib back against the wall, and he lowered his fist and took a few tentative steps back. It wasn't the human's fault. Well, it kind of was... of cours it was! But then, how could he have been so blind? He hadn't suspected anything and now he was paying for it.

Dib took this opportunity to slip out the back door. He was going to help Zim whether he liked it or not, but first he needed to grab a few things from his space cruiser.

"Zim!" Sizzlor shouted from the kitchen. "You better be working back there!"

Two days went by… the only possible explanation Rin could think of for Dib not being there was that he had somehow gotten himself lost. Oh well, she was in the kitchen… or what she suspected to be the kitchen; it was at least some kind of food preparation area. Different machines would spew different foods; all she had to do was remember which one did which. This wasn't too difficult considering most of them had pictured labels.

She had spent a total of four hours sleeping. Irkens apparently didn't need sleep, so Rin had done her best to take naps during her breaks.Sometimes if it was really quiet, she would sleep underneath the counter. She felt like she could collapse at any given moment. Her eyelids kept drooping and her yawns had gotten more frequent. Her tiredness was making her unaware of practically everything that was going on.

Her hand got too close to the deep frying device and some of the hot oils spewed onto her skin. She let out a startled yelp before stumbling back into Zim; he dropped the box he had been carrying and small green creatures fell out and began hopping all over the floor. His eye twitched in annoyance, and he turned to scold the young girl but no words came… Why did he keep forgetting that? He bit his lip when he saw red liquid dripping from her hand to the ground. Rin was bleeding a disgusting red colour.

"Sorry Zim," she murmured clutching her hand to her chest. "I'll help you pick those up…"

His gloved hand stopped her when she moved to grab one of the strange hopping things. He shook his head and motioned for her to go into the back room. The stupid human needed something to stop the bleeding, and he had learned that they also required a lot of rest. Rin hadn't been getting the rest her species required; it was making her stupid.

"I can't… not until Dib gets back," she said, and Zim gave her a questioning look. She wasn't making any sense.

"I shouldn't have let you go… maybe if I talk to Purple… do you think he'd let me help you?"

"Zim, Rin!" Sizzlor shouted. "Hurry up! The customers are waiting!"

This seemed to wake Rin up a little, and she moved quickly to do as she had been instructed. Gashloog was taking his break, but he would be back soon. Then it would be time for Rin to take her break. Zim wouldn't get to take a break… it was apart of his punishment. He was to work until he became obsolete…

Rin quickly bandaged her hand just as Dib burst through the door carrying a variety of instruments. He wasn't exactly sure what he needed to adjust Zim's Pak, so he had brought as many tools as he could carry.

"Wooo! I'm gunna eat some nachos!" an undisguised Gir cheered leaping from the boy's head and landing in one of the machines. He began munching noisily until he got bored and leapt out of the kitchen only to attach to Sizzlor's head. "I love crazy monkey!"

The large Irken's hand grasped the small robot by the head, and Gir laughed and began swinging back and forth.

"What is this thing!?" he questioned loudly.

"Where did Gir come from?" Rin asked Dib who dropped his arm full of instruments to the ground. They clattered, but Gir was making so much noise that no one heard this.

"I found him sleeping in your cruiser," Dib answered as he mulled over which tool he should try first. He had worked with Irken technology before, but he'd never gotten a chance to work on one of their Paks. It was kind of exciting.

"I'm a swinging monkey!" the robot cheered. "I want nachos! Nachos!"

"Get out of here!" Sizzlor shouted dropping Gir to the ground. The Robot ended up sitting there, looking around until he saw something else to "play with." It was one of the floating trays carrying food to a table. Gir jumped onto it, spilling the food all over the place.

"Hopefully that crazy robot will give us enough time to get this done…" Dib said reaching for the screwdriver.

Zim's eyes narrowed as he watched Dib's movements. He didn't trust this human; he didn't trust any human! If Dib thought that Zim would let a filthy earth-beast touch him… His hand gripped the counter as his head began to spin. Maybe they had done more damage to him than he'd thought. He didn't have full use of his Pak, so it wouldn't be long before his body began getting tired.

But then they could do whatever they wanted when he passed out, which he really felt like doing fairly soon. He rubbed one of his red Irken eyes sleepily before glancing at the back door. Even if he did escape, what good would that do?

Rin had finished filling an order. Despite Gir's interruptions, Sizzlor was still managing to move the line forward. The tray whizzed off, and she tipped her goggles down so she could see a little better. Dib grabbed Zim's arm in order to get him to turn around, but the troubled Irken wasn't being very compliant.

"You're going to have to leave the kitchen," Rin told them. "Gashloog is going to be back any minute."

"Right," Dib replied shoving Zim into the dimly lit room in the back. "Could you move the supplies in here? I'm pretty sure I'm going to need the laptop at least." He quickly turned back to Zim who was glaring at him from the floor.

"If you don't want me to tamper with it on, you should take it off."

Zim could only glare at the stupid human to show his hostility. How? Why? Weren't the foolish pig stinks supposed to be on their planet attending their Skool? Why were they on Food Courtia? How did they figure out the planet's coordinates?

The Tallest!

Purple had hinted that he had spoken to someone from Zim's base… Did Purple want him to attempt to escape? That would give the Tallest a reason to destroy him, not that they really needed one... As it stood, they could destroy him at any time.

* * *

**More Notes:** I wasn't neglecting Gir… I was just waiting for the right moment to bring him back into the plotline. Yeah, that's it. Now the Gir fans will have no reason to slaughter me…. But I'm still keeping an eye on you Zim fans! I just wanted to shut him up for a change. He's not even angsty, see? He is still his resilient self, just with less words. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's notes: **I am being very mean to Zim aren't I? Heh heh… well it wasn't really intentional. It just kind of worked out that way.

It's time to haul the Disclaimer over here.

I own no Invader Zim, but Rin is mine and so is Dublark, but he's not really that important, besides the Resisty belongs to Lard Nar who belongs to Jhonen V. who owns Invader Zim. So there.

* * *

**Operation Destroy Zim **

They were out of chips again. Purple grumbled to himself as he left one of the Massive's snack pods. They needed to stop somewhere to get more, but he knew Red wasn't going to allow it. Not now when they were so close to… that thing Red told him about earlier.

Why did it seem that his counterpart had more power than him? Sure Red was involved with all the Doomsday weapons; he oversaw much of their creation and even added some of his own ideas, but Purple did things too… He made public appearances with Red, and he gave Red his input after the death robots were functional. He even went with Red to speak with the Control Brains…

Everything he did included Red, he suddenly realized, so that's what the problem was. No, it wasn't really a problem; Purple had to admit that he wasn't very knowledgeable when it came to creating battle plans or constructing dangerous machinery like Megadoomers. Most of their technology had been stolen from other civilizations and constructed by their scientists, but Red was more involved in this area than Purple cared to be. Operation Impending Doom One had been Red's idea, and so had Operation Impending Doom Two, though Purple supported the idea full heartedly.

At first everything was going well with Red's plans; the Armada had already succeeded in eliminating several useless planets and enslaving the more prominent ones. Then the Resisty had shown up; a rather nasty thorn in their side but…

Purple nearly ran into one of the short drones. Thinking and walking together had never been a good thing for Purple, and as he made his way back to the control room, his thoughts began to scatter. Now all he wanted was chips, or maybe some candy bars. Surely there had to be some around the ship somewhere. Red always made sure they had enough snacks on board. He probably loved snacks more than Purple did… it was hard to tell though. They both liked snacks more than almost anything.

Red was sitting in his chair when Purple came through the automatic door, stewing over their most recent loss. The Resisty had attacked one of the Invaders and successfully drove her from the planet. She had been demoted to janitor on one of their battle ships, but now they needed to send more troops to retake the planet.

"You don't look very happy," Purple noted taking a seat beside Red.

"We lost Meekrob," Red informed his fellow Tallest.

"Really? I thought the malfunctioning SIR units destroyed most of the life there before Invader Tenn was able to reprogram one of them to kill the others off." The only Reason Purple knew this was because Red had told him about it after. It had taken his companion hours to re-establish communication with Invader Tenn after the explosions.

"The Resisty took the planet out from under her."

"Oh. That's too bad. We didn't really need it though right?"

"That was going to be our…" Red sighed and shook his head. Sometimes he was amazed at how oblivious Purple was. "I think the troops could use a little pick me up."

"Free snacks?" Purple questioned hopefully.

"Yeah sure, the first one who kills Zim gets free snacks."

"I thought the Control Brains said to keep him at Food Courtia," Purple mused sliding a thin green finger along his chin as he thought about this. His eyes widened a little when he saw Red take out a bag of chips. Where had those come from!?

"I mean, he is basically dead anyway, and without his annoying voice, he won't be able to bother us anymore…"

Purple kept his eyes on the chip bag until Red noticed and handed them over.

"The Control Brains won't care. Zim's a defect, and besides, this will give the soldiers some kind of distraction from their horrible lives. The Control Brains went crazy trying to redownload his data… we'd be doing them, and us, a favour."

"Their lives aren't horrible," Purple said looking confused as he stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth. "And crazy or not, the Control Brains are the Control Brains."

"Well…All of their lives our horrible compared to ours," Red stated with a shrug. "Why are you arguing with me anyway? You want Zim dead as much as I do."

He pushed a button close to his chair, and the large screen popped up. The signal was being sent to all Irken ships in the area.

"Everyone, I'd like to propose a little game…"

Purple watched his fellow Tallest. The only sound coming from him was his munching, but if Red had turned around, he would have seen Purple's eyes narrow slightly. Something didn't feel right… or maybe his stomach was upset from the lack of junk food.

"I'll go too," Purple suddenly blurted rising from his chair. Chip crumbs fell onto the floor, and Red gave him a questioning look. "If that's what you want to do." He turned back to the screen. "One of you come over here and grab Purple."

They were going to Food Courtia which could only mean one thing, Purple mused as he smiled to himself. Snacks!

"Bring us back some chips," Red said offhandedly.

-

"Come to think of it… why didn't you just take the stupid thing off in the first place!?" Dib questioned irritably. He had just spent hours trying to fix Zim's Pak and had finally succeeded in reprogramming it not to explode; at least he was pretty sure he did.

"He can't," Rin answered having opened to door to check up on them. Gashloog had been put on the cash register while Sizzlor left the counter to capture Gir who was bouncing around wildly.

"Gashloog told me a little bit about it," She said glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was there. "Apparently Irkens can't live without their Pak. It's their life source."

"Superior race huh?" Dib asked as he stood up and brushed the dust and other debris from his hands. "Human's have something like that too; it's called a life support system. We use it when we're almost dead!"

Zim rolled his eyes as he picked himself up off the floor. He didn't care what the stupid human's thought. It was obvious to him that neither of them understood how great Irken technology was.

"Are we good to go?" Rin asked, muffling another yawn. She really was tired… and the pain in her hand was killing her though she tried not to show it.

"Yeah, it shouldn't explode anymore, though I still think it'd be kind of funny if it did."

"Gottcha!" Sizzlor shouted as his large hand clamped around Gir. The robot laughed, even though he was getting squeezed out of shape, and made another shrill noise before opening his head cavity and spraying pudding everywhere.

Sizzlor dropped Gir who began dancing around licking pudding off his arms. Seeing his boss in trouble prompted Gashloog into action; he grabbed a mop and attacked the strange SIR unit with it, though it didn't really work.

"We better hurry," Dib stated shoving Zim in front of him. The Irken was growing weary, and despite his apprehension, he decided to let the humans do whatever. His antennae flattened; he had been forced to become a food service drone for Irk's sake! By Irken standard, it didn't matter if he was killed or not. Drones were expendable.

They went out the backdoor, and Zim, surprised that he hadn't been blown to smithereens, stopped and looked over his shoulder at the building that was supposed to be his prison. He was free again, but for what? He couldn't go back to Irk…

"I guess I was a volunteer then," Rin said as she quickly followed after Dib. She threw off the goggles, hat, and the apron as soon as they began walking towards the bustling street; Zim did the same. They needed to get to their Voot cruisers before Sizzlor noticed they weren't there. Luckily for them Gir was keeping everyone fairly busy with his pudding messes. By the time anyone noticed them gone, Rin, Dib, and Zim would be on their way to Earth. At least that was the plan until laser blasters on an array of Irken battle ships began shooting from the sky at them.

Actually, they were only shooting at Zim, but Dib was close enough so that one of the beams caught his jacket. The black fabric began smouldering, and Dib quickly dove to get out of the way, leaving both Zim and Rin out in the open.

"Rin, what are you doing!?" he shouted at her, but the girl had already began running; it was a natural human reaction. Many Irken soldiers had been near Food Courtia at the time of the broadcast; they would normally pass by this way to get supplies from a neighbouring planet. Today however they had come for Zim's life.

Rin opened the communication device on her arm. She knew by now that the vessels in the sky weren't firing at her, but still… The black screen fuzzed for a moment, but it quickly cleared revealing her father who was sitting on the toilet in his housecoat.

"What is it Rin?" He asked, but his eyes nearly doubled in size when he saw the frightened look on his daughter's face.

"Rin!? What's going on!? Are you hurt!? Lasers!?"

One of the red beams struck the device on her arm cutting transmission with her father. She hadn't even been able to speak with him to explain the situation she was so out of breath.

Purple had left one of the cruisers in order to find some place to pick up a few bags of chips and some soda, when he saw Zim and Rin running towards him. He quickly ducked into a dark alley and watched as both of them ran by with a few of the small Irken battle ships right behind them. They could only run for so long before the Irken soldiers blew them up, Purple decided as he slowly crept out.

Seeing that Rin (not Zim) was in trouble, Dib had wasted little time in returning to his voot cruiser to give pursuit. It was a strange sight for the alien pedestrians, seeing half a dozen fighter pilots chasing two people through the street. Especially for one; Dublark; a Resisty spy.

When the small orange creature saw what was going on, he immediately contacted the Resisty leader; Lard Nar who was only too happy to deploy a few of his followers to take advantage of the situation.

"Zim, why are they…" Rin began, but her foot caught on a piece of debris of the pavement, and she fell forward. The Irken soldiers didn't care; they were after Zim's life and free snacks. She lifted her head slightly only to see the back of Zim as he continued running for his life.

This might have been a little more enjoyable if his own people hadn't been the ones firing at him. Zim also found out fairly quickly that the large mechanical legs he usually summoned from his Pak weren't working. If the Irken soldiers cornered him, he wouldn't be able to escape.

Dib landed next to Rin who had only now managed to climb to her feet. Her legs were trembling, and her burnt hand began to sting after catching the pavement…

"He's a quick one, I'll give him that," Purple said. He was watching with a straw in his mouth and a can of soda in his hand. It was really good, tasted tangy but sweet.

"You!" Dib shouted pointing an accusing finger at the Tallest. "This is all your fault! Stupid Irken leaders!"

"It wasn't exactly my idea, but it's still pretty neat," Purple said gesturing to the smoke from the ship's blasters off in the distance. They had turned a corner at some point, so no one along the bustling street could see Zim or the ships anymore.

"Look at how much fun their having."

"Purple?" Rin questioned wide-eyed. What was one of Zim's leaders doing here…? "Isn't this a little extreme? I mean Zim wasn't doing anything wrong."

"What do you mean? He's been doing stuff wrong his whole life," Purple replied sucking noisily on his straw. "Seriously, everything involving Zim ends in nasty explosions… or horrible power outages!"

"But your ships are the ones causing the nasty explosions!" Dib stated.

Purple paused and stared at Dib wordlessly for a moment.

"Isn't it a little unsafe for you to be here without any kind of protection?" Rin suddenly asked, and Purple folded his arms crossly.

"What do you mean? I can defend myself just fine!"

"I just mean, someone with your kind of importance usually has a body guard or two. What if there are assassins hiding somewhere nearby?"

"Hm… you might have a point…" Purple replied scratching his head. "I guess I didn't think about that."

"I thought it was just Zim, but I guess all Irkens are stupid," Dib said in an annoyed fashion, and Purple narrowed his eyes at the short earth creature.

"You can't judge everyone like that Dib," Rin scolded him. "Besides, I thought he made a pretty good first impression."

Dib folded his arms across his chest and gave Rin an odd look. "Yeah, he choked on a straw. That's an awesome first impression." The sarcasm in his voice was very noticeable, but Purple didn't say anything to show that he'd been offended.

Rin's thoughts suddenly traveled away from that topic, and she promptly switched to another. Maybe if she could talk to him casually, he would call of the soldiers.

"What's it like being a Tallest? Is it difficult?"

"I can't believe I'm talking to earth creatures," Purple said shaking his head. "Well let's see…" Was his job difficult? Why did the earth-thing care anyway? "No. Not really. We can eat as many snacks as we want, and all of the drones, soldiers, and scientists have to do whatever we say."

"But if you lost a war, wouldn't you be the first ones executed?"

Purple choked on his soda. She… was probably right about that…

"Don't say things like that! We're not going to lose!" Purple insisted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," Rin remarked raising her hands defensively. This only reminded her of the painful burn she had however… she really should bandage it soon, before it got infected.

"I'm not worried… I'm just…" Purple threw his hands into the air. "Gah! I don't even know anymore! And don't apologize so easily; it's weak."

An explosion erupted from behind them and Purple leapt forward and grabbed Dib by his "large head" and held him up like a shield. The bemused Dib kept his arms folded irritably and shot a glare over his shoulder at the Tallest who smiled and dropped the boy before folding his hands behind his back.

"Yeah, that's really going to help…" Dib grumbled as he got back to his feet and brushed the dust from his pants. "I still can't believe Irken Leaders are chosen based on their height."

"It is a bit simple," Rin admitted. "But I guess it's better than some other ways…"

Purple rose one of his long fingers and looked smugly down at the small Earth children.

"Yeah, it might be a little simple maybe, but it's also effective. I mean, we've destroyed a lot of planets and enslaved quite a few different races, that's pretty good right?"

The smugness hadn't lasted very long… was he trying to prove himself worthy of his position…?

"I believe it's wrong to do such a thing," Rin replied honestly. "It hurts others doesn't it? Why would you do that Purple…?"

They were doing it for power of course! Or… were they? Purple wasn't too sure, but making other planets a part of the Irken Empire seemed like a pretty good idea to him. They would have slaves at their beck and call anyway, but didn't they already have Irken drones for that?

"I… I'm not exactly sure…" Purple couldn't really answer that question. Curse that child for giving him a flicker of doubt. It was just a flicker however, and it was easily dismissed.

"It's because we're superior!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Dib slapped his forehead…. And he thought humans were stupid!

"How can we decide who is superior? Is it because of technology? Skin colour? Don't we all have faults?" Rin asked giving him a friendly smile. There was sincerity in her expression; something the Tallest hadn't seen in a very long time.

"You shouldn't do anything too dangerous… you could die, and then your people wouldn't have one of its leaders."

"Uhh… yeah… sure…" Purple replied, and then he started to laugh. "It almost sounded like a non-Irken was worried about my safety!"

As far as he was concerned, that was impossible.

Another explosion caught the building behind them, and debris rained down onto the street below. Purple raised his arm to shield his eyes. That explosion had been to close. He looked closer at the ship which was pointed right at him and gasped, letting the drink cup slid from his hand.

"Oh no… It's the Resisty!" Purple stated glancing around nervously in hopes of seeing some of the Irken military in sight. They were still chasing Zim somewhere… The red dot fell on Purple's chest plate. He couldn't move… the panic was too overwhelming. He hadn't had a close call since Impending Doom One when Zim had ravished their home planet.

Never again would he step outside when a large megadoomer was reining destruction down on his home planet… never again.

Would his armour be strong enough to defect the attack? Something told him probably not…

Dib looked up at the spacecraft hovering in the sky while Rin's eyes fell on the red dot marking the Tallest as their target. They were going to Kill Purple? What would his people do without him!? Even if there was another Tallest… what would he think?

"Purple! Look out!" the girl shouted just as the laser cut through the air. A sickening sound followed of flesh tearing from bone and blood spattering onto the sidewalk.

When Dib's eyes returned, Purple was staring down at a hopelessly wounded Rin; her blood pooling beneath her small body. She must have somehow gotten in the way of the laser… but why? As far as Dib was concerned, Purple was the bad guy. The Irkens were the ones trying to take over most of the universe!

Purple instinctively reached to remove his Pak. If he attached it to Rin, it would be able to keep her alive for a while until the boy could find her some help. He hesitated and lowered his eyes guiltily… But he wouldn't be able to survive long without his Pak. He had saved someone once when he was younger by attaching his Pak to them, but that had been on Irk and there had been a medical center close by. His superiors had reacted badly, and even Red had scolded him for doing that…

Then he remembered the enemy ship, and he quickly ducked behind a nearby building while his hand moved to grip his Pak. If there was no way to save her, then he would take it back. He shook his head as his antennae flattened against his head. Why did he care anyway? The short creature wasn't even Irken, and she was short! A worthless drone… but she wasn't Irken, so what was she? Another creature who should become a slave to the Irken Empire? None of these fit, though he did want to destroy the other human somewhat.

He didn't want Rin destroyed though, and shouldn't the Tallest always get what they want?

_Purple! Look out!_

The girl… she was strange… A non-Irken had never treated him that way before… In fact, most non-Irkens hated him because of Impending Doom Two, because of Red's plans, not his own; though he would support his fellow Tallest no matter what.

He bit his lip when his Pak disconnected from his back. This was his entire existence… Without looking, he rolled it to Dib who was hiding behind some kind of garbage can thing. "Take that and attach it to her!" He shouted ducking as another shot fired at his head.

"It should keep her alive for now!"

The wall of the building Purple was hiding behind began to crumble, and he was forced to step away from it.

Dib dove out into the open and snatched up the Pak. The laser fire several times, but Dib was able to make it over to Rin without serious injury. He took the girl by the arm and dragged her underneath the overhang of a nearby metal structure.

"Attach the metal cord looking things to the bleeding areas. It should connect and stop the bleeding… I think…"

Purple's eyes drooped wearily as he slumped against the battered wall. His limbs became lip, and with a fading smile, his eyes slowly drifted shut.

More ships appeared in the sky, alerting the remaining Irken soldiers chasing Zim (one had smashed into a building and one had been a victim of its own lasers when Zim used a large reflective piece of metal to protect himself, but that couldn't really be considered Zim's fault… could it?)

The small Irken collapsed when he realized that everyone that had been chasing him was gone. Curiosity nagged at him however, so he quickly picked himself up and began heading back the way he'd come. Zim was ready to leave this filthy planet… even if he was forced to return to the stink planet Earth.

* * *

**Author's Notes Sugar Powered:** This chapter supports my opinion that Purple really isn't as bad as he seems. But making him a saint was probably a bit much. Yeah… you may agree or disagree. WARNING! He's probably going to be the most out of character. I'd thought I'd warn you… now that it is almost too late! 

There is no romance with Purple here at the moment! No Rin/Purple, no Purple/Zim, and no Dib/Purple. I may or may not have paired him with Gir… ha ha ha joking. That couple would be waaay too painful. Red/Purple uhh… NO COMMENT!

I love reviews too! Good reviews! Bad reviews! Constructive reviews! One or two word reviews, metaphors ect. They're all fun. I also just remembered that I'm going to be gone for Spring Break so I will finish uploading all of these chapters I have gathered before then. I guess one chapter every other day will do it! No more editing then, you must suffer through every horrible mistake OOC, spelling, and grammer wise.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's notes:** Yes I will be leaving next Saturday or Sunday for a whole... ten days I think it was. Everyone else is all excited; I hardly talk about it. Then again, the Furthest I've been is California -laughs at self- I'm hoping there will be alot more IZ fanfiction when I get back. I like to read it almost as much as I like to write it. No more Notes next chapter. Only Reviewer recognition.

**Unwanted Memories**

Lasers flashed through the sky as battle ships from the Irken military and the Resisty fought. Zim looked up as he was running… this wasn't good! There were more Resisty ships than Irken vessels!

His foot struck something and he fell forward, his body crumpled wearily as he hit the pavement. He had never run so much in his life! Cringing a little, he managed to lift himself up with his arms, and he glanced back to see Purple slumped lifelessly against the battered wall.

At first Zim was too stunned to move… surely that couldn't be the Tallest! But it was; Zim recognized this well enough… He stood up and limped over to the fallen Tallest who was beginning to turn pale with the promise of death. What was wrong with him!? There was no blood; there were no wounds of any kind! Zim leaned forward and touched his former leader's shoulder, and Purples head fell forward revealing an empty spot where his pack had once been.

-

Mean while, back on the massive, Red was searching around Purples room. He lifted his head with a very serious expression on his face.

"Purple's in trouble," he suddenly stated flattening his antennae against his head.

His fellow Tallest hadn't been keeping his usual snack reserves in his room!

"I told him to keep some extra snacks around, but he goes and eats them all anyway!"

-

Purple was a goner…

Oh well, it wasn't Zim's problem! They shouldn't have made a fool out of Zim at planet Judgementia… but then… the Tallest! Stupid squiggly spooch! He had grown up with Red and Purple; they had trained together, and Zim could have sworn that the smeet he crammed back into the shoot was Purple, now that he thought about it… though he still believed blacking out Irk for five years was pretty neat.

Sure the Tallest had tried to kill him, apparently they had tried to kill him several times, but Zim was still alive, and Purple was dying. In a way Zim had won, but won what? There was no satisfaction in this! Besides, it wasn't Purple who was the defective…. By all Irken law, Zim's data should have been deleted.

The Tallest had been doing the right thing.

Zim crept forward and peered around the corner, he could see the human Dib crouched beneath an overhang… in the sky the ruthless battle continued. An Irken spacecraft was falling through the air, and it crashed noisily into a building far off in the distance. Fire spurted into the sky along with thick black smoke. Since he couldn't call to the Stink-pig, he grabbed a piece of debris and threw it at the boy's large head.

"Ow…" Dib complained rubbing the back of his head before glancing over his shoulder to see where the piece of rock had come from.

"Zim? This is also your fault!!" Dib immediately accused. There was water coming from the boy's eyes. He was crying?

"I don't know why Rin kept insisting on rescuing you! Purple even said you were a defect! You should be dead!"

_Yeah so what's your point?_ Zim wanted to ask. Maybe his data was messed up… but there was nothing he could do about it. That's when he saw the red stain on the pavement which smudged, leaving a trail right to Dib. The earth-pig didn't seem hurt though. Zim's eyes widened a little… Where was Rin?

"She's dying Zim," Dib answered having read the Irken's expression. He moved out of the way of the girl lying motionlessly on the ground… most of the bleeding had stopped thanks to Purple's Pak, but her eyes weren't opening and the internal wounds weren't healing right leaving her body covered in deep purple bruises.

"Purple gave her his Pak, but she's still going to die if we don't do something!"

_It was dark cold place. She had never been in such a dreary place before. Where was this…? For some reason it seemed familiar… was she inside herself? Where were all of her happy thoughts?_

_Suddenly everything lit up. She was standing in a room lit by cameras of some kind… they seemed to be built differently, and the people standing behind them were Irken. There were crowds of Irkens gathered to watch, and in the center of it all was Zim chained up and staring hopelessly at the floating brains hovering before him._

_Purple was explaining how the trial was going to work to an adorable baby Irken. When he had finished explaining, a sudden shocked look fell across his features and he gestured angrily at the child. Guards appeared and took the frightened smeet away…_

"_Wait, don't take him!" Rin called, but no words came from her mouth. Everything was dead silent except for her own thoughts… what was this place?_

"_Oh yeah, that," Purples voice echoed in her head. _

"_Purple?"_

"_I told the child too much information, so I sent him to the dungeon."_

"_He was a child Purple… he couldn't hurt anyone."_

"_So what I did was wrong…?"_

_His voice faded, and the scene returned to darkness. _

"_Everything I've said has always been right though," Purple mused. "No one argues with the Tallest."_

"_What if I argue with you?"_

"_Look… I'm here trying to save your life… if you make me upset I'll just stop and we can both die."_

_Rin's eyes widened in surprise. "W-what do you mean Purple..? We're dying? How?"_

"_You got in the way of the Resisty's laser gun when they tried to kill me," Purple paused and Rin heard him give a quiet sigh. "You saved my life earth creature… why?"_

"_If you're dying, I guess I didn't do such a good job."_

"_Don't be silly, you blocked the whole thing. I didn't even get a scratch."_

"_Then how are you dying?"_

"_I let Dib use my Pak to save you. My body is currently shutting down… it won't belong before my Pak is unable to return to my body."_

"_But… that defeats the whole purpose of me saving you."_

"_Why did you save my life? You don't even know me… we aren't even from the same species! I need to know why you did that!"_

"_I…" Rin paused and bit her lip. "I'm not too sure… I guess I thought that you'd be missed by your people. You are their leader after all, but why do you want to help me? Don't you have to return to govern your people? What are they going to do if you die?"_

"_Under normal circumstances, I guess I would have left you there to die…I mean it was your own stupidity that got you in this mess."_

"_Thanks Purple..." Rin said flatly. _

_  
"But I was in a pretty uh... strange mood today… I guess, and besides, Red can take care of everything when I'm gone. He's wanted to try ruling solo anyway."_

_Despite their predicament, Rin couldn't help but giggle at the mention of 'Red.'_

"_Red and Purple… that's kind of silly…"_

_Purple coughed, ignoring the girl's statement. "Red will be able to handle things on his own… I don't really help that much, and really, there's only supposed to be one Tallest."_

"_Do you…" Rin began; her voice filled with uncertainty. "Do you really feel that way Purple?"_

"_I'm not really sure..." his voice quietened a little. " Yeah. I guess I do."_

"_Well, I'm not going to let you die Purple…You shouldn't be thinking those things, you're going to have a wonderful life filled with… what do you like?_

"_I like snacks…"_

"_You should look forward to that. I'm going to attach your Pak to you… as soon as I can figure out how to move my body."_

"_Impossible, you're deader than I am."_

"_Then come over here and take it from me… please?"_

"_That's also impossible…I can't move."_

_-_

Zim had never seen anything like it before… an Irken Pak attached to some-thing not Irken… it was strange, yet it seemed to be effective. Most of the blood had dried up and the large gaping wound in her body was nearly closed. There must have been a lot of damage done though, because Rin wasn't waking up. Also, Human's internal structures were far different than Irken's… Zim doubted that the Pak would be able to fix any kind of human organ… but there was always the possibility that it could.

"Stay here," Dib said rising to his feet. His hands were covered in Rin's blood… it was an awful sight which made Dib feel a little light headed. The sight of human blood made him queasy.

"I'm going to get her some help… I don't know from where… but, I can't just sit around here anymore!"

Dib left, and Zim sat down and wrapped his arms around his knees. The Rin human was still breathing, but her eyes still refused to open. He leaned a bit closer when he saw her eyelids flutter. She could wake at any moment, Zim decided. Stupid Dib-pig worrying over nothing!

-

_Purple and Red could be seen drinking sodas together, laughing cheerfully as they watched a rather entertaining puppet show from one of the more prominent Invaders. _

_The scene flashed and Purple and Red were descending on a large platform waving to a crowd of Irkens below._

_Everything fell into darkness once more, and Purple let out another sigh. _

"_If we do happen to survive, you better give those memories back to me."_

"_I thought you were sharing them on purpose."_

"_Of course I'm not. That would just be weird." _

"_Your memories are more interesting than mine are."_

"_Alright, then you don't have to bother sharing them…" he hesitated for a moment and cleared his throat. "I mean, it's only fair that you should share some of your memories with me since my Pak is letting you take glimpses into my past!"_

"_Uhh… ok sure… lets see if I can find my earliest one…"_

_The blackness morphed into living room, and young Rin was sitting on her daddy's knee playing with a stuffed teddy bear. Her father, in turn, was playing with a small plastic UFO._

"_Rin look, the aliens are going to abduct your teddy," her father said in an overly cheerful voice. Rin let out a mock squeal and slid off her daddy's lap. _

"_Oh noo! I must save Teddy!"_

_The image blurred, and Rin stared at fading image of her small self looking slightly embarrassed. "I didn't even know I had that memory!"_

_Purple chuckled. "That was you as a smeet huh? … Who was the taller human with the horribly outdated version of a space craft in his hands? Wasn't he the same creature who was with you before?"_

"_That was my father."_

"_Father..? What is that?"_

"_You don't have a father?" Rin questioned wrinkling a brow. "How can I explain this…? It takes two humans to make a baby… A father is one of them."_

"_Oh… I don't get it. Show me another memory."_

"_Ok. How about this one?"_

_The nothingness around them blurred then slowly changed into a picture of a brightly lit kitchen. Her father had just finished putting in the wrong type of bulb. He clutched his eyes and fell of his step latter just as Rin's mother walked in with a bag of groceries. _

"_What are you doing Ron?" she asked placing the bags on the counter before standing over her husband who was lying on the floor clutching his eyes. Rin was sitting at the table eating a bowl of chocolate pudding. Her face was covered in a chocolaty mess, and she stared wide eyed at her father her mouth open for more pudding which slid off her spoon._

"_Don't do dangerous things in front of our daughter," Rin's mother scolded him, and she lifted Rin into her arms. _

"_That female human is very round," Purple noted._

"_She was pregnant with Max."_

"_Pregnant…?"_

"_She was carrying a baby."_

"_How is that possible?"_

"_You don't have pregnancy on your planet?"_

_Silence answered her._

"_Purple..? Are you there…?"_

"_Oh sorry, I forgot you couldn't see me. I was shaking my head no." _

_That had been bothering Rin for a while now… She could see herself and her memories very clearly. In fact she could wave a hand in front of her face right now, yet Purple didn't seem to have a physical body in this place… The only reason she knew he was there was because of his voice. _

"_Purple, why can't I see you?" she questioned into the darkness._

"_Because we're in your brain right now silly human," was the simple reply. "Anyway… I don't really need a body here considering my physical body is still somewhat functional… if you call blinking a function…"_

_Rin tried to smile, but she found she was unable to. "I have to get out of here…" he murmured staring into the surrounding darkness. _

"_Staring at nothing won't really get you out of here…."_

"_I'm concentrating on moving my arms… I'm pretty sure the Pak's done all it can for me by now…"_

"_Really? That didn't take very long... but you're still here. Are you sure?" There was a pause. _

"_You're lying to me! But, I guess I'll help out. I might beable to use the Pak's influence to move your body."_

_-_

Rin's eyes fluttered open, much to Zim's obvious irritation. It had taken the human long enough! Her arms lifted her into a sitting position, and her body fell forward. Now lying on her front (where the Pak was) she began to drag herself across the cement. Her lifeless eyes stared ahead, not seeing anything… she was still trapped inside her unconscious mind. Was this happening because of the Pak?

Her body dragged its self all the way into the alley where Purple was laying barley alive. With a grunt, her hands moved to grip the Pak, and she tore it from herself and tried to give it back to Purple. She held it out, but the unmoving Tallest made no move to reach it. Zim watched, and while he could have helped he decided it was much more interesting this way. Hopefully his Tallest wouldn't found out.

The Pak touched the place it was supposed to be connected, and it greedily reattached itself to its proper host. At first there were no signs of life from the Tallest… and then Purple's eyes slowly blinked open; his skin changing back to its regular colour.

"How long was that…?" He wondered checking one of his devices. A Tallest's Pak was a bit more advanced than a regular Irken Pak, and their bodies were a bit stronger as well. They could survive a while without having their Paks attached.

"Seventeen minutes… not bad…" He leaned back and stared up at the sky, still feeling incredibly weak. Rin's body collapsed face down before him, and he looked at the near dead child with a sense of… something… He wasn't actually sure yet. She had saved his life again… Stupid confusing earth creatures! Maybe they should blow up Earth after all…

After stewing for a bit, Zim walked up to the Tallest who was still sitting slumped against the wall. He folded his hands and waited expectantly.

"What do you want Zim?" Purple asked irritably. "If you're wondering why I did that, it's because I…" He sighed and held his head wearily.

"Now Rin is trapped in that place all by herself… Why on Irk do I care? I should blow her up for all the trouble she caused me! All of the humans!"

Overhead, the Resisty had taken control of the skies. One of the ships landed in a parking lot nearby; many of the alien civilians were hiding inside restaurants, so the streets were fairly bare. One of their battle pods had communicated that it had shot at Tallest Purple before it exploded into a million pieces… the Foodening had been cut short. Not too many aliens were stuffing their faces after the battle. They were too frightened to eat.

The Resisty's goal now would be to capture the Tallest and use him as leverage to end Operation Impending Doom Two or blow him up. Either way would work.

* * *

**More Author's Notes:** Exploring Rin's past took up most of this chapter. About the unconscious movement, I'd blame the Pak mostly for that one. While a Pak can revive an Irken, it doesn't react well with an alien host, and instead of regenerating Rin's body (completely), it allowed a moment of involuntary action thanks to Purple's influence of course. 

I was thinking about killing Rin off here… to be completely honest with you (because she was taking up too much of the spotlight, and I was thinking it might be time to get rid of her) but, well, you'll see how it goes in the next chapter.

Also, after reading the script for 10 seconds to doo, I've come to realize that a Pak is much more harmful to humans than I previously thought. Lets just say Tallest Paks are better at life saving than mooost...


	12. Chapter 12

Author's notes: Yaaawn.. Sorry about the um.. lack of updating that has taken place over spring break, but I was in France and Italy you see, getting rained on by all kinds of rain. I never realized how much rain there was on this planet! If there had been any Irkens on the trip, they all would have died a horrible agonizing death I tell you!

I had to get dressed in an airport bathroom so I wouldn't have to fly soaked to the bone. Yup. All in all it was a pretty fun trip.

**The Throbbing Fists Strike Again**

Dib returned to the small street where he had left Rin and the Tallest; he had brought Sizzlor and Gir (who had decided to follow along.) As soon as the large bodied Irken saw the Tallest lying unresponsive in the alley, he smacked Zim out of the way and knelt down to check his leader's vital signs.

"He's alive… his Pak has been returned, thank Irk…" Sizzlor said touching Purple's Pak to make sure it was in the proper place. The Tallest lifted his head to regard the other Irken; his eyes drooped wearily.

"Hi Tallest!" Zim's robot greeted getting in Purple's face and waving happily. "You look sick!"

"What were you thinking Purple!?" Sizzlor demanded. No Irken had ever addressed the Tallest in such a mannerism before without suffering some kind of doom, but the Fry Lord had been worried.

"You could have been killed!"

"Like a monkey would!"

Sizzlor's fist smashed into Gir who went flying out of the alley.

"I kind of realized that," Purple responded without a hint of emotion in his voice. "The Resisty won this battle didn't they?"

"Yes, but Red has been informed of everything… he's coming to get you."

"That's nice."

"Could you take this a little more seriously!?" Sizzlor boomed, and Purple fell back against the wall, his eyes wide with surprise.

"What do you want me to say? Oh I'm so sorry for almost dying; I'll try not to let it happen again!"

"That would be a good start!"

Dib clenched his fists together and ground his teeth angrily.

"Excuse me alien scum!" He interrupted Sizzlor's and Purple's little argument. "But Rin is still unconscious if you haven't noticed. You could at least point me in the direction of the medical facility on this planet!"

"There isn't one," Purple and Sizzlor said at the same time. They glared at each other, but Sizzor quickly averted his eyes. Purple was the Tallest after all… no matter how foolish he was.

"The Massive should be here any minute though," Purple reassured the boy. "We have all sorts of technology that could probably help her."

"Like what?"

"I don't know… some spirally things?"

"You don't even know your own technology!?" Dib questioned smacking his forehead. "That's great… really."

"I don't have to know it, the scientists design and build everything, and the soldiers use it," Purple replied as he slowly forced himself to stand. He had to use the wall for balance, but now that he was standing above everyone else, he reminded him of his position. He was the Tallest, and the aliens coming towards him with their weapons drawn were probably very interested in that.

Sizzlor turned and saw the yellow, orange, and silver aliens; a few had only one antenna and one of the shortest ones had three eyes. Despite their non-threatening stature, the large dangerous looking weapons they were holding were plenty threatening. Luckily they were still a ways off and Sizzlor's bulk had hidden the Tallest from view, but they were coming anyway because the Fry Lord was Irken. The Resisty didn't like Irkens; they would blast Sizzlor even if he wasn't important.

"My Tallest, you need to leave now!" Sizzlor shouted brandishing his giant metal spatula which he had kept strapped to his back. "I'll fend off these pests, but you need to find somewhere safe to wait for the Massive."

"Nobody thinks I can defend myself do they?" Purple questioned; his antennae drooping. He had taken the basic Irken military training! He hadn't been the best at it, but he had picked up some skills! Then again…there was no point in risking injury when there was a chance to run away.

"Fine, let's get going large-head," he said to Dib as he turned to where Zim had landed and found that the small Irken was only now picking himself up off the ground.

"My head is not large!" Dib protested, but he soon quieted and resigned himself to carrying the lifeless Rin.

The Tallest ignored the human as he thought about what he was going to do with the defect… He could ask Zim to join them, but he really really… really didn't want to, but the Rin girl probably did. He was going to regret this later…

"I guess you should come too Zim." He said, and his antennae fell a little. "You have to stay away from all weapons of doom, and if you absolutely MUST make something explode, try to make it the enemy…"

Zim gave him a half-hearted salute. Despite being hunted down by his own people, he still considered the Tallest to be his leaders. Lying horrible rotten leaders, but still, he would remain loyal enough not to do anything stupid like taking his revenge out on the Tallest.

Purple, it seems, wasn't very good at leading on his own. He had been following Red for so long, that he almost forgot what it was like to have to make solo decisions. Dib had ended up the leader even though his arms were being weighed down by Rin, and he had no idea where he was going.

"Don't you know this planet at all?" Dib asked the Tallest who was floating a short distance behind him.

"Not really," Purple answered, stopping for a brief moment to stare at a vending machine. It had his favourite candy! Purple shook his head and turned back to Dib who was glaring at him.

"You really are an angry little Earth creature aren't you?" Purple questioned raising one of his antennae attentively. "Sure that other human was hurt, but she'll be fine. Trust me, Irken technology is the best in the universe."

Shadows fell from overhead, and Dib, Purple, and Zim's first reaction was to get off the street. They ducked into a small alley and watched at the small ships whiz over top of the buildings. They were Vortian, Purple's eyes narrowed; he could tell.

"It looks like they sent more forces here," Purple noted as he slowly peered out of the alley. No one was coming on foot, so they could keep going.

"I guess the idea of capturing one of the Tallest has got them a little bit excited."

"You know, we could probably get immunity from this entire mess if we just hand you over to them," Dib remarked, and Zim smacked him for his incompetence.

"Yeah probably," Purple shrugged. "They might even talk Red into halting Operation Doom Two. If you don't hand me over however, you'll probably be rewarded by the Irken fleet. Really, it's a win win situation for you... but just remember the girl saved my life. For some reason, though I'm not sure why yet, I have a feeling that if she wakes up and finds me dead, she won't be very happy with you."

"Alright alright!" Dib said glaring at the Tallest. He felt a little guilty saying something like that… the unconscious girl in his arms had risked her life to save the stupid Tallest.

"You're made your point… let's just get out of here."

They were just about to leave the alley when more spaceships appeared in the sky. Purple ducked back behind the wall along with Dib and Zim and uttered an irritated sigh.

"They're never going to leave…"

An explosion erupted, and metal debris fell from the smoking Vortian voot which crashed into a building nearby. The unfamiliar spaceships flew by again. They were fighting with the Resisty!

"Well, that's definitely not an Irken ship," Purple said staring wide-eyed at the scene playing out above them. Another Resisty battleship crashed into one of the taller advertising signs, and one of the unidentified ships followed it, spiralling to the ground where it landed in a burning heap.

The Resisty wasn't going to be beaten so easily. A stray ship hovered slowly above Purple, Dib, and Zim

"Never underestimate the power of Earth forces!" a familiar voice shouted, and the hatch at the bottom opened to reveal a man dressed in a spacesuit. He studied the group for a moment, and nearly had a fit when he saw Rin lying lifelessly in Dib's arms.

"Rin! Oh my god! What happened to you!?" He jumped out before any of the other passengers could stop him, and he jarred his legs on his landing. Luckily the spacecraft had been hovering closer to the ground; otherwise he might have very well broken his legs.

"Rin Rin!" He shouted taking the girl from Dib's arms. "Speak to me my daughter!"

"I'm sorry…" Dib murmured, and a laser shot past and nearly struck Purple. Luckily the Tallest had noticed it coming and had used Zim as a shield… Zim wasn't so lucky, but the laser had been fired from a fair distance, so the Irken would recover… eventually.

This seemed to have snapped Ron out of his state of shock. "You can apologise, all you want later! Everyone get in the ship!"

Purple dragged the injured Zim into the human spacecraft, and he was quickly followed by Ron (who was carrying Rin) and Dib.

"Hey sir, are we taking the aliens with us?" one of the men at the controls asked.

"What do you think!?" Ron snapped. "Shut up and drive already… those other aliens are still out there you know." He turned to the one woman aboard the ship. She was already going through her supplies, searching for something to help Zim.

Ron's eyes fell on his sleeping little girl. Physically she seemed ok… maybe there was something internally wrong with her. A part of him didn't want to believe this, and he gently tried to shake her awake.

"Rin, wake up…." He murmured; he couldn't hide the fear in his voice. "Please Rin… what's wrong with you…?"

"I've got some bandages for the alien," the girl said before taking Zim from Purple. "Is there something wrong with your daughter captain..?"

"She was shot with a laser," Dib explained.

"At close range," Purple added.

"But Purple used his Pak to heal most of her wounds."

"Someone get the X-Ray machine out here!" Ron shouted, and one of the mean leapt up from his chair and ran to fetch the device.

"Pak huh…?" Rin's father questioned, and his eyes narrowed at the Tallest. "What is it exactly..? How did you know it would work on my daughter!?"

"He didn't know," Dib said, and Purple soon found himself backed against the wall with an angry father ready to throttle him. Ron couldn't kill the Tallest right now since he was carrying his daughter, so he relented.

One of the crew returned with the X-Ray machines, and the medic (having finished with Zim) took the device and led Ron into another room. They needed space to perform any kind of test to see what was wrong with the girl, and the cockpit really didn't have that much.

Purple gulped and looked down at Dib. "I get the feeling that guy wants to murder me…"

"Just wait until you tell him the reason why his daughter is in that condition."

One of the Tallest's eyes narrowed slightly. "You mean that human could get angrier than he is now?"

"Yeah… he might even kill you."

"I'm doomed… Where's the Massive when you need it…?"

"Oh dear God!" Ron shouted from the next room over. His daughter's bones were broken, and some of her organs had been badly damaged. It was strange though… some of them had been in the process of healing already.

"Sir I think you should leave the room!"

There was a sound of a struggle. Then the door flew open and Ron stormed out and marched over to Purple and Dib. The Tallest shrank away a bit surprised by the human's fury and his incredible height.

"Both of you talk, now!"

"I'm sorry!" Dib spoke loudly.

"I am also sorry!" Purple blurted. "Don't kill me…"

"Sir, we're leaving the planet… I'm switching the gravity back on…"

The ship rumbled, and in the mirrors, the pilot could see one of the enemy ships pursuing them.

"Just get us out of here…" Roy said softly, and he clutched his head as he sank down on one of the chairs. "You two need to tell me what happened…"

More Notes: Did I meantion the horrible horrible rain!? Yes!? Oh.. ok. Yeah. I bought stuff too, just so you know, and I learned that the "Sixteenth Chapel" is really called the "Sistines Chapel" or something crazy like that. I r smrt. Um yeah. Anyway, more fanfiction less talky right?

By the way, I lied! Reviewer recognition next chapter! I didn't realize I'd actually start blabbing about the trip on here.


	13. Chapter 13

**Reviewer Recognition/Reply: HeCallsMeHisChild – **Rin isn't dead… just a little comatose. Yeah, that's it. –shifty eyes- I'm glad you like her though, even if there was some place her words seemed a little forced. Thanks for pointing that out by the way, I might go back and rewrite it sometime.

**tasty cheez – **I agree, it would be interesting if Rin died. So far it seems you and me are the only ones that think so though. You quoted Purple being afraid for his life. I heart.

**NarutoPhantom** – Thanks for the praise, and the trip was very good. I would recommend Europe to anyone, especially Irkens because I like Earth and don't want it taken over so there. –grin-

**LianiRisate – **My 'updating soons' need to be improved… I'm sorry. I would give you a specific date for my next update, but I probably wouldn't keep it.

**Authenti- **I've heard it rains a lot in England, but I still want to visit there one day. Maybe on my next big trip! I'm going to be working for several years before I make it out of the country again though. Yes, Zim was made speechless for a reason! Actually, I think if he had his voice he would have been thrown into the cold vacuum of space long ago. Purple keeps going out of character, but yeah, maybe given the situation he's allowed. Dib, well, he's the one I've tried to keep as in character as possible.

**Rev Runner**- Zim conscious? But he is so much nicer when he's out cold! It's impossible for him to stay unconscious for very long. Remember Hamstergedon? He was out for maybe 30 seconds. Ah yes. What a good show IZ is.

**Dark Harichan-** Mm. Juice is delicious. What flavour is it? Is it apple? I like apple.

**microwaved noodles-** Purple is pretty fun to write. Yeah. I'm glad you don't think he's gotten too out of character. As for the romance, well, Red will be appearing soon. It may or may not happen. Just remember I originally wrote this fic with no plans of romance for anyone, but I'll let you judge for yourself.

**Lard Nar's Glorious Arrival (and departure)**

Dib and Purple both became silent after recounting their version of events. Ron was resting his chin on his knuckles. He didn't appear angry, but Purple still seemed worried.

"That's my daughter..." he murmured. "She always has to help somebody… It doesn't even matter that he happens to be an evil alien tyrant bent on conquering the universe."

"I am not a tyrant…" Purple protested. He wasn't exactly sure what a tyrant was, but it didn't sound good. "Anyway… I'm basically your prisoner now… so what are you going to do with me?"

" Zim is a friend of my daughter's, so I'll let him off the hook…" Ron muttered, thinking out loud.

"And Dib sure isn't to blame…" His cold eyes stared into the large purple Irken eyes, and the Tallest's antennas drooped guiltily.

"You on the other hand… You and this "Red" are horrible! How could you get my daughter involved in this mess!? And Zim! What you did to him is unforgivable."

The Tallest wasn't used to being scolded like a child… his gaze fell to the floor and he clutched one of his guarded arms nervously as the tall human continued to glare at him. Suddenly Ron's eyes shifted to Dib who had remained fairly quiet since finishing his story.

"I tried to get your father to come with me Dib… but he told me he was too busy to go chasing after you… I'm sorry."

Dib bit his lip and lowered his eyes so that they were hidden under the glint of his glasses.

"It's ok…" he said. Really, he should be used to it by now…

"I'm really sorry… I should have tried harder, but we didn't have time… I deployed the Throbbing Fists as soon as I got the transmission from Rin."

"I didn't know you guys had spaceships," Dib said; his sadness vanishing under his curiosity.

"The truth is I am a paranormal investigator hired by the government to cover up much of the alien paranormal activity on Earth... Of course my job includes capturing and studying alien life forms, and I truly do pursue other interests like ghosts, and the Loch Ness monster which the government also funds…"

"But you cover up alien activity?"

"Yes… The government believes that's it better for regular citizens to remain unaware of the possible threats that could come from outer space. Our job is to prevent panic from breaking out… but this doesn't stop us from using the alien technology we happen to find in crash sites on earth."

"I guess that explains … something…" Dib said sounding unsure. His eyes brightened. Area Fifty One! Of course!

"As for you Purple," Ron began turning back to the Tallest. "I will honour my daughter's wishes and return you to your ship. If she lives, you can thank her."

Ron exited the room then, emotionally drained and unable to continue speaking with the alien. Rin was a strong girl… she would probably be fine. Right now they needed to find the location of the "Massive" and establish communication with the alien called 'Red,' but he was too tired… He needed to lie down.

He entered his room aboard the ship and took out his communication device.

"Rick, find the location of that blasted ship and send them a message that we have their Tallest and will be returning him."

Before the ship's pilot could reply, Ron cut the transmission and flopped onto his bed. His only daughter was severely hurt… and he hadn't been there to protect her. His communication device began blinking again, and he pushed the button to answer it.

"Ron! What the heck is going on!? You said you were going to the Loch, but when I went down to the office they told me you were in outer space! What are you doing in outer space!?"

"I'm sorry hunny… I can't talk just now…" Ron replied; his voice fading.

His wife gave him a worried frown. Her pale features and long black hair had been the reason Ron had chased after her… He used to think she was a vampire, but when he discovered that she wasn't, he asked her to marry him. He was rejected of course, but no one could say he wasn't persistent.

"I wish you would at least tell me before you run off somewhere... but I guess it can't be helped," His wife stated glancing away from the screen.

"Sorry, but I have to get going. Someone is fooling around with one of the machines again… Hey! That is supposed to be diet poop, not cherry, and we aren't mixing them until next Wednesday!"

The screen switched to black, and Ron murmured his apologies to his wife knowing that she wouldn't hear a word…

-

"I think I've pinpointed the Massive's location," Rick said sounding a little excited. "I'm pretty sure one or two of those ships from before are following us though… They seem to be using a cloaking device to hide their presence."

"They'll intercept the transmission," Purple said hovering near the man. "Do you have a code that locks the signal?" That was something he had heard Red say once... apparently there was some kind of code that would cause the transmission to lock onto a single target and block any other transmissions that tried to interfere... or something.

"Uh... no… I'm pretty sure we don't. This is the first time this thing has flown in space… We didn't have time to finish with the computer."

Zim held his head as he lifted himself up from one of the control chairs. The medic human had bandaged him up, but his head was still spinning.

"Half of our fleet has been wiped out," Rick noted as the screen began flashing with red dots. Each one of the dots represented a distress signal of a fallen ship. "The other half has been summoned back to our Earth base. The Swollen Eyeballs have already been notified, as well as the Bruised Corpse."

"Bruised Corpse..?" Dib questioned making a face. That name was just sick…

"Have you been summoned back?" Purple asked.

"Yeah, but Ron isn't going to let us go anywhere until we've gotten rid of you."

"Make the transmission."

"But you just said…"

"I'm no good at this…" Purple admitted, covering his face with his hand. "All I know is that Red needs to know what's going on… if he doesn't know I'm on board your ship, he'll shoot us down."

"Shoot us down!?" The younger pilot spoke sharply.

"Yes, yes," Purple replied with a sigh. "Now contact the Massive or we're all doomed."

Dib stared at the Tallest… he still didn't trust the Irken leader.

"And what if it's some kind of horrible alien trap?" Dib questioned turning to Rick.

Purple's antennae twitched. "Do you honestly think I want to explode?" His antennae twitched again when he noticed the now revived Irken glaring at him. "Zim… stop staring at me!"

"I'm calling them!" Rick finally said pushing a button on his control panel. The screen flickered, and Lard Nar appeared on screen looking smug.

"We knew you would try to get in contact with the Massive eventually…" his voice faded and his eyes grew wide when he realized that the creatures piloting the ship were not Irken.

"What the heck is this!? Since when do the Irkens have allies!?"

"Great, I must have got the transmission wrong," Rick stated unhappily. "Now what do I do? Should I talk to it?"

"Yeah sure, why not?" Purple said uttering a sigh. His head was beginning to hurt. Why couldn't he be on the Massive eating candy bars and drinking Irk's finest soda?

"What are you anyway?" Lard Nar as he leaned closer into the monitor. One of his eyes narrowed, and he turned to one of his companions who shrugged carelessly and wandered off screen.

Lard Nar leaned back and cleared his throat before giving the strange creatures his best fake smile he could find.

"I afraid we've been fighting each other over a simply misunderstanding," the strange creature began, and Dib tried not to stare at it… the thing was small and grey, and it had horns. It was unlike any alien he had ever seen before.

"You see, we thought you were a part of the Irken Armada."

"We're not," Dib said flatly, and he folded his arms across his chest as he continued to stare at the strange creature.

"Yeah, we came out here to rescue some of our own," Rick stated. "But… complications arose, so we took two aliens on board as well."

"Complications?"

"You were trying to kill us."

"Oh. Oh! Well you don't have to worry. I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement. You see, one of the aliens you're harbouring happens to be a very bad individual trying to take over the universe. We would appreciate your cooperation in handing him over."

"Can we keep the little guy?" Rick asked pointing at Zim who didn't seemed very happy with the human for calling him 'little.'

Purple rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Why would you want to keep an Irken?" Lard Nar asked. The Tallest blinked. He had been thinking something similar.

"Why not!?" Ron snapped. His arms folded across his chest in an annoyed manner, and he tilted his head down as a frightening scowl appeared across his face. There were so many things he wanted to do to the aliens that had harmed his daughter, and now there was one of them on the monitor. Suddenly he snapped back into the present, and he smacked the pilot in the head.

"That's for contacting the wrong ship!"

"Ouch, sorry, I didn't mean to."

His blazing eyes turned to the small alien on the monitor, and he gestured angrily at the screen.

"You shot my daughter! You shot my daughter you little bastard! You'll get no deals from me! Purple stays, and you can go fuck yourself with the missiles I'm about to launch at you! Good day…"

He flicked the monitor off and turned to his pilot. "Fire those missiles at him."

"Uh... but sir he was willing to negotiate."

"Well he won't be anymore. Now fire those damn missiles or I'll shoot you at them instead!"

"Y-Yes sir…"

An hour went by… then two. Lard Nar had retreated after his ship received heavy damage from the missiles launched at him. Right now the humans were drifting in space… the Armada was there surrounding the planet Food Courtia. The Irkens had already chased away many of the Resisty's followers. It wouldn't be long before Red discovered his counterpart was no where on the planet.

Rick had been trying to contact the Massive since Lard Nar's ship fled, but he wasn't having any luck.

"Maybe it's broken," Dib suggested as he watch the man continue to push the transmission button over and over again.

"If it is, I won't be able to fix it…"

"Move over then!" Ron snapped, and Rick slid off his chair and made his escape crawling along the floor.

Ron began typing furiously, and Dib watched. As long as the boy didn't make any noise to interrupt Ron's concentration, he would be fine staying there.

"Those vermin placed a shuffler in the system somehow… It makes all of our messages appear as random blots of colours… it messes up the sound too… Who ever is controlling the Massive must have thought it was some kind of freak disturbance or the Resisty messing with their systems… It will take time to fix it."

The door to the cockpit opened, and the medic lady stepped in covered in blood. There was a smile on her face as she stepped into the room, and Ron quickly left his station to speak with her.

"How's Rin? Is she alright?"

"Yes… but I'm afraid she will be very weak for a while. I gave her a good dosage of pain medication. I thought it would keep her out for another few hours, but…" she sighed and looked down at the ground almost as though she was feeling guilty.

"Ron, there was no way I could save her left eye, and some of her other organs, and her right arm is... well… I'm assuming that even though her limb wasn't directly impacted by the laser, the shock to her heart and her core nerves, and the radiation caused the blood in her arm to become poisoned. Please don't faint Ron, I have good news for you. Even though her brain was gone, I was able to restore many of her memories using that alien's strange backpack device. If there's anything missing, I'm sure you could use home videos. Her heart was still beating so I connected a computerized chip to her brain and filled it with everything she needed to know."

"My daughter was brain dead…?"

"If you want, we could do a liver transplant when we get back to earth, and maybe even replace her left eye. Her brain isn't functioning any more though Ron… I know this must be hard for you…."

The man's face was as pale as a ghost, and he held his hand to his mouth afraid he was going to be sick…

Rin appeared in the doorway, her missing eye was covered by bloodied bandages so no one could see. Her damaged organs and her missing limb had been replaced with machinery. The advances in Earth science could only do so much, but the medic had managed the best she could, and the process resulted in the girl's revival.

The medic woman dipped her head and quickly hurried out of the room. She knew Ron was going to be upset, and she decided to spare some of her commander's dignity by leaving.

Purple stepped out from behind her while he reattached the Pak to himself. The girl had left quite a few of her memories in there… he was happy to get rid of them.

"Daddy…" Rin's voice was monotone, and Ron burst out crying. He sank to his knees and covered his face with his hands.

"A robot…? My daughter is a robot!?"

Zim and Dib stared at the revived girl who managed a smile as she walked over to her crying father.

"No daddy, I think I'm what they call an android. Most of my body is functional."

"But…"

"Purple said that he could give me something when we reach his ship…. It will help me. Also, he says they've got a lot of scientists that can improve on my mechanical components. Everything will be fine."

She turned to Zim and Dib still with a smile. "I'm glad you're both ok."

"Rin… you were dead…" Dib said stupidly.

"No, I was never dead… my brain died, but my heart kept beating. It never stopped."

She looked up at Purple who had been watching her curiously. The earth creature seemed to hold no ill will towards him, unlike her father.

"Purple, you know my thoughts and feelings now don't you?"

The Tallest nodded mutely.

"Will you do it…?"

"Your human feelings are horrible," Purple stated irritably, and he folded his arms across his chest. "But… I guess I could… even if Red doesn't agree."

"You could what?" Dib questioned; his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

"Convince the empire not to destroy Zim," Purple replied with little concern. "It's not like his death is really important to us anyway. As long as he stays far… far away from the Armada, and remains banished forever, everything should be fine."

"You can't mean to keep him on Earth!" Dib shouted and Purple snickered while the small Irken threw a fit in the background.

Ron continued to cry while Rick munched wordlessly on a piece of jerky he had found hidden underneath one of the seats.

**Author's note:** I still haven't shaken off my laziness as you've probably noticed. Sorry about that. I'll try to update twice this week.

There were some swear words present in this chapter, and a little bit of gore. That's why this fic is rated T. Yup. Uh huh. Yes Rin is an android now. That's better than death isn't it? Isn't it!? On a completely different note, have you noticed anything strange about the OC's names yet?


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Notes:** Yeah, Ron has gone through a huge mood swing… Let's see how nice Rin can be as a… -looks back at the list- Cyborg; that's the right one right? I finished this fic before I knew anyone liked Rin so… this is how I wrote it back then.

I never expected this fic to get so long. Actually, I was planning on ending it after Rin and Dib found Zim. The explosions were an accident, I swear. Anyway, I decided to celebrate this fics 50th plus review with an extra chapter, so here you go.

Warning: Character death.

**Red's Glorious Arrival **

"How could this happen!?" Red questioned loudly, and the Irken soldiers standing at his side stood at attention fearfully with sweat dripping down their foreheads. They had landed on Food Courtia to search for Purple, but found only ruin. "This is all Zim's fault!"

"Hi… Tallest…" A battered Gir mumbled still grinning despite his obvious disrepair. After being launched a great distance by Sizzlor, the robot had been run over and shot at by all sorts of things. His outer shell was dirty and badly damaged, and his eyes which usually reflected a strong blue colour were dull and flickered on and off.

"You!?" Red's mouth fell open. He couldn't believe it! Didn't Zim leave that useless robot on Earth?

"Everything's exploding…" Gir muttered as he staggered towards the Tallest. "They all exploded."

"Who did?"

"They did, they did, and everything exploded."

"What about Purple? Did he explode too?"

The small robot shook his head. "They flew away in a ball of cheese… gooey… I want nachos, but they exploded all over. I exploded too…"

"Where are they?" Red demanded, gripping the robot by his head and lifting him off the ground. Behind the Tallest lay the bodies of Sizzlor and Gashloog… they were smouldering, and their Paks lay in ruins scattered across the pavement.

"Flaming gooey taco cheese …" Gir said. He was making even less sense than usual… Red smacked the robot a couple times in the head as though it were a broken device.

Gir grinned. "They flew away with the huuumans."

Red promptly dropped Gir and turned to the soldiers who were still standing at attention.

"Track down whatever ship it was that took Purple!"

"But Sir…" One of the soldiers began, but he was quickly cut off when the angry Tallest loomed over him and gave him a scary look… No Irken ever wanted to be on the receiving end of that look…

"Right away sir…" he whimpered. It didn't matter that they had no way of tracking the vessel that might have taken Red's companion. At that moment, the Irken soldier would have said anything to please his Tallest.

Red returned to the Massive worn out… His antennae drooped, and his arms hung limply at his sides. Purple couldn't be gone… he just couldn't be…

"We're receiving a transmission from an unknown ship..." one of the Irken's piloting the Massive suddenly spoke up.

"It's probably just another one of those taunting messages from the Resisty…"

"I don't think so…"

"Turn it off."

"But…"

"I said…"

"Don't turn it off!" A familiar voice shouted, and Red immediately ordered the Irken at the controls to put the transmission on the big screen.

Purple appeared on the monitor, and Red's antennae perked up.

"Purple!" Red shouted joyously. "I thought you were dead!"

"Not quite," Purple replied with a smile. There were others on the screen with him… a tall human male, two little humans, and… Zim. Red's eyes narrowed at the small Irken, but he was too relieved seeing Purple to be angry.

"I picked up a few things while we were there… I know I shouldn't have but I knew you'd want something when you got back… oh Purple! Never do that to me again!"

Red was nearly in tears, and Purple glanced back at the humans feeling a little embarrassed over Red's obvious worry.

Then Rin remembered something… Gir! They hadn't seen the little robot since they left the planet.

"Where's Gir?" Rin questioned. It had been a question Zim had wanted to ask for hours now.

"Who cares where that hunk of metal is!?" Red exclaimed. He was still worried about his fellow Tallest… would the humans willingly let him go?

"I do," Rin said; her voice playing with little emotion. "And Zim probably cares too…"

"I think we left him back on Food Courtia," Purple answered her as though she were his equal. His equal! Red couldn't believe it. No lowly alien was their equal! What had they done to him?

"We can go back," Ron began, but he was unable to meet his daughter's eye. "If those other aliens are gone... we can go back. Is that what you'd like Rin…?"

"The human leader is suffering from some kind of brain meltdown," Purple remarked, and Rin shook her head sadly. Her poor father had been through so much…

"Purple? Are you feeling alright?" Red questioned eyeing his fellow Tallest curiously.

Purple gave him a similar look before suddenly blurting. "No! I haven't had any chips or donuts or soda in hours! It's driving me crazy!" He cleared his throat and looked around the cockpit awkwardly as the human's stared.

"Never mind almost getting blasted to smithereens by a powerful laser and nearly dying," Dib said.

"What!?" Red shouted into the screen.

Purple glared at the young Earth boy. "Thanks… now he's going to be freaking out…"

"Is what that Earth-creature said true!?"

"Let me explain Red!"

"When I get you back on this ship I'm never letting you out of my sight again!"

"You're overreacting!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are," Purple insisted pointing one of his long green fingers at the screen. "You always start arguing with me when you're overreacting!"

"Shouting won't really help the situation," Rin told them, and Dib rolled his eyes at the stupid alien's behaviour. The Tallest weren't even on the same ship as each other, and already they were arguing as though it would make a difference.

"I guess this wouldn't be a good time to tell him that you used your Pak to…"

Dib was cut-off when Purple clamped his metal guard (the one covering one of his arms) against the boy's mouth. The Earth creature quickly gripped Purple's arm and struggled to free himself while the Tallest smiled innocently into the screen.

Red stared wordlessly for a moment, but the boy's words soon became clear in the Tallest Red's mind.

"Used your Pak for what Purple…?" He questioned, his antenna falling in an irritated manner.

"The human child has a brain disease!" Purple quickly stated before throwing Dib off screen.

"Anyway, I'll be boarding the Massive soon with Rin, Zim, and the tall human there."

Purple gestured to Ron who was still standing beside his daughter, looking forlorn despite his significant stature.

"Hey! What about me?" Dib questioned groaning as he rose to his hands and knees.

Purpled narrowed his eyes at him. "You lost your chance."

Red's eyes widened as he stared at Ron. That human was taller than they were…

"Why Zim?" He asked, pulling his gaze away from Ron.

"He's a part of a deal I've made… These humans seem to have some sort of liking for him."

Red balked then made a different face, and Purple nodded, approving of his companion's reaction.

"I don't understand it either."

"Poor stupid humans…"

"Yeah, no kidding."

Rin jabbed him in the side, and he gave her a guiltless look.

"Anyway, we'll be boarding soon. This ship needs to return to its Earth base… I was wondering if maybe we could fly past Earth later and drop these guys off before we continue Operation Impending Doom Two."

"Alright, and I'll launch the Irken who almost lost your transmission into outer space before you arrive."

"Did you go to Food Courtia?" Rin questioned the Tallest on the screen.

"Yeah… why?"

"How are things…? Did anyone get hurt?"

Red bit his lip and turned away from the monitor so that his back was facing them.

"Two of our own are dead… the short one doesn't matter, but Sizzlor… It's not every day we find an Irken worthy of being called Fry Lord."

"Gashloog is dead…?" Rin questioned growing pale.

"Is that was his name was?" Red asked in a non-caring manner.

The transmission ended, and Purple turned to find Rin staring at the screen, her face was pale and her good arm was trembling.

"Rin…?" he questioned unsurely, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"Gashloog is dead…" she said in a quiet tone. "He was my co-worker…"

"I know. I still have parts of your memories engraved in my Pak… and your horrible human feelings."

"Are they really that bad Purple?" she asked him.

"Yeah they are pretty bad… I mean really!" he gave her a meaningful look. "You care too much you know. Gashloog was a drone… he was a hired drone, but still a drone."

The human's vessel began to shake as explosions erupted from outside. Rin, Zim and Ron were all knocked to the floor, and Rick who was still under one of the control desks yelped as his head hit the cold metal chair behind him. The sound of laughter came from the screen which had flicked on during the assault. Lard Nar had returned in a more powerful ship. In the course of a few months, the number of his followers had risen to the amount of half the Irken fleet. Their plan was to incapacitate the human's ship and separate the Tallest, though the plan got a little fuzzy after that…

Purple had been floating just above the floor, so he didn't fall, and Dib had been in the process of getting back to his feet after being thrown by the Tallest. He had gripped one of the metal objects protruding from the wall and hadn't let go.

"Rick, get back to your station!" Ron shouted leaping to his feet. The younger man and fellow pilot to Rick began typing numbers into their computer. He had remained fairly quiet up to this point, but now that his skills were needed, he ended his silence and began speaking.

"The core power has dropped 30 percent!" The boy stated giving his commander a frightened look just as Rick jumped into the chair beside him.

"How many missiles are left?" Ron questioned rubbing his temples.

"Twelve," the boy replied.

"Twelve!?"

"You shot thirty eight of them earlier!"

"That many…?"

Rin climbed back up and went to stand beside her father. The alien on the screen continued to laugh as he prepared to fire more lasers at them.

"Get this thing moving, we can't afford to be struck by them agai..." Before he could finish, another explosion erupted at the rear of their vessel, and the medic woman let out a frightened scream as the walls gave out and she was sucked into outer space.

"They killed Rain!" Ron stated grimacing. "Damn it… can we make it to the Massive?"

"I don't think so…" Rick replied. "They took out one of our engines. If we try to move now, we'll only end up going in circles."

Purple's antennae fell as he stared worriedly at the screen and the laughing Vortian. The Resisty would more than likely kill the humans for trying to help the Irken Armada, but he would be kept and probably tortured…

Before another attack could be launched, the Massive began firing its lasers at the Resisty's ships, and the Irken Armada quickly moved to defend the vessel carrying their Tallest Purple.

Lasers flew back and forth, and all anyone could do inside the damaged spacecraft was watch as the battle developed right in front of them. Dib leaned forward with a grin on his face. This was more interesting than any paranormal show he had ever watched! Zim on the other hand was feeling down since he couldn't inflict doom upon his enemies. He sat in forced silence, watching the fight with his antennae pressed against his head in an annoyed fashion.

"I'll go try to repair the engines sir," the boy said rising out of his seat, and he saluted Ron before leaving the cockpit.

"Everyone grab some sort of weapon…" Ron said when he realized that the ship was moving backwards. They were being towed from the battlefield, probably by their enemy…

"We aren't going to surrender that easily."

* * *

**More notes: **I did less editing on this one, but I think it's presentable enough. Is this a cliff hanger? Ah well. Back to my sporadic updates I suppose.

I brought Gir back! For a moment. Um. Well at least he's not dead yet, unlike Sizzlor and Gashloog. Poor Irken fastfood workers... why must the civilians be the first to die? Why!?


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes: **Oh cool. People answered one of my rhetorical questions. I should ask some more. What's the meaning of life? Where does fool's gold come from? How old is that thing in the back of the fridge? You know the thing I'm talking about. It's got black fuzz. Erm… anyway. Time to move on.

**Warning:** MORE Character Death! And this time you might actually take the warning seriously, because this is going to be a serious death!

You have been warned.

* * *

**The Death of Him**

Despite Purple's dislike of lasers, he was pretty good at handling them. As soon as their enemies barged in to the cockpit, Purple had fired one of the hefty looking laser guns and killed several of the cocky aliens with a single shot. Both Rick and Rin refused to touch a weapon, and Zim hadn't been allowed, so Ron and Dib took care of the rest that had broken in, one of them being Lard Nar himself.

It wasn't as though the Resisty hadn't had a plan. Oh no, but who would have thought that such an inferior looking spacecraft would have high-tech laser guns hidden in the cockpit!? Purple hadn't escaped uninjured, and this was probably the reason why he hadn't been able to destroy them all. One of his enemy's weapons had left a rather nasty looking hole in his armour and green blood spilt onto the floor as he doubled over in pain.

Most of the controls were smouldering having been hit by lasers and other equally harmful weapons. They wouldn't be functional anymore. Rin and Rick had ducked behind the control panel to avoid being hit, but everyone else had remained in the open. Ron's arm was bleeding, but Dib and Zim appeared to have been untouched.

"Rin hunny," Ron said dropping his weapon when he realized that his daughter had been amidst the battle. He strode across the cockpit and stepped over the bodies of the fallen Resisty members to where Rin was hiding. She peeked out from behind the controls and gave her father a blank look.

"You're bleeding," she noted, and her father took her into his arms. He was crying again.

"I'm sorry Rin, I know how much you hate violence," he told his daughter, cuddling her close. "I should have never let you fly this far into outer space. This is my fault."

"No it isn't," Rin said as she pulled away from her father. "Blaming yourself isn't going to help us daddy… right now we have several injured on board and no medic…"

"I want to kill that little grey alien…" Ron muttered darkly, but his expression soon lightened when he realized that his daughter was staring at him with disapproving eyes.

Lard Nar groaned as he slowly forced himself to sit. His head was spinning, and a deep feeling of dread had gripped his chest as he realized that he had been defeated. Maybe storming in here had been a reckless idea after all… he really needed to learn to listen to someone other than Spleenk.

The young man who had left the cockpit earlier to fix the busted engine returned wearing a spacesuit and carrying a wrench. When he saw all the bodies lying on the floor, his eyes widened, and he slowly backed out of the room.

"That poor boy," Ron muttered shaking his head. "This was his first time flying too."

Dib had moved closer to the glass dome that protected the cockpit from flying debris. Outside, the battle had stopped. The Massive was on fire, and many of the Irken battleships had been destroyed while the few remaining members of the Resisty were retreating.

"The battle stopped," Dib said out loud since no one had taken the time to look outside recently.

"We won right…?" Purple asked lying huddled on the floor in pain.

"Yeah…" Dib replied. "But it looks like the Massive is going to explode."

"Red!" Purple yelped shooting up from the floor. He remained standing for a short time before buckling over in pain again. "Ughh…"

"Stay still Purple," Rin said kneeling beside him. "You're bleeding all over the place…"

Zim kicked the alien body lying close by. He was still upset about being left out of the battle. Deciding that everyone was distracted enough, he began tampering with some of the human devices. If he could fix his Pak, he would be able to program it to speak for him.

Ron, on the other hand, was still angry with Lard Nar over Rin's near death at the hands of the Resisty, and he grabbed the alien who was reaching for some kind of weapon he had kept hidden on him. It was a bomb (though it was a far more superior bomb than any other bomb in the universe) and it could vaporize not only the human's ship, but the remaining Irken forces as well! He had hoped that he would never have to use the device, but now it seemed like he didn't have any other option.

"What's this?" Ron questioned trying to take the bomb from the alien's hands. The man's grip tightened around Lard Nar's throat, yet the Leader of the Resisty refused to let go. He moved one of his fingers closer… and he was able to reach the activation button.

"Ha ha, now we will all perish!" He announced happily as Ron dropped him.

"Ohh…" groaned one of the fallen members of the Resisty had regained consciousness. "You said you wouldn't use that…" The alien promptly fell back into unconsciousness leaving the humans to fret over what such a device might be capable of.

"We're all going to die..." Purple muttered from the floor. He had tried lifting himself up, but his body wasn't cooperation.

"That's a Vort bomb… everything within several hundred meters will be disintegrated."

"That sounds like the nuclear bombs we have back on earth," Dib stated sounding unimpressed…. "Wait a minute! You mean that thing is activated!? Doesn't this ship have any escape pods!?"

"Nope," Rick replied in a casual manner. "We got rid of them so we could make it here sooner."

"It was a good thing we did too, otherwise Rin and that purple guy would be dead right now," Ron stated rubbing his temples.

"How much time do we have left…?" Rin questioned, and her eyes flicked over to Lard Nar who had begun laughing manically. He stopped and grinned at the human girl.

"Maybe two minutes if we're lucky."

"Dang… I knew I should have changed my will before I left…" Rick said scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Do you still have your ex-wife on it?" Ron asked, and the pilot nodded in response.

"Does anyone even care that we're going to explode!?" Dib questioned loudly, and both Rick and Ron turned to him looking annoyed.

"Of course we care," Rick replied. "My ex-wife is going to get my car!"

"And my wife is going to be widowed with two boys to look after…"

"Mom is pretty strong," Rin reassured him. "I'm more worried about my little brothers… They're still so young."

"Human feelings are disgusting!" Zim's voice suddenly rang out.

"Zim, you're still here?" Dib questioned, and the small Irken shot him a glare before marching over to the bomb that was lying on the floor.

"I might have been overlooked because my voice was gone, but now Zim can speak!"

"How did that happen?"

Zim waved away the boy's question and stared down at the bomb.

"That doesn't matter! What matters is Zim has an ingenious plan that will save your pathetic human lives…"

"Why would you do that?"

"Don't question me filth-pig!"

He bent down and grabbed the bomb looking it over carefully.

"Are you able to launch this into space human?" Zim asked Ron who nodded in reply.

"That won't work!" Lard Nar quickly interjected.

"I haven't finished explaining my brilliance!" Zim said making a fist at the alien. "But we haven't much time."

"I don't like where this is going…" Rin admitted rising off the floor. "Zim…? What are you going to do?"

"Rin, your services have been most helpful, thanks for coming to my rescue which resulted in the loss of your… human brains," He looked awkwardly at the ground before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes at the human girl. "Zim doesn't know what else to say to you." He fished around his Pak and brought out a thin metal box. "Take this and put it in Zim's computer."

He turned to his Tallest Purple who was still crumpled over in pain. It wouldn't be long now before Zim's brain stopped functioning properly..

"My Tallest, it was an honour serving you, even though you humiliated me in front of the whole Irken Empire and tried to destroy me several times…"

"Of course," Purple said managing a half-smile. "You're the most durable Irken I've ever seen. No matter what we did to kill you, somehow you managed to escape."

Zim nodded, "indeed."

His red Irken eyes shifted to Dib who stared mutely at his nemesis.

"As for you Dib," he forced out the boy's name as though it left a bitter taste in his mouth. "You were my greatest enemy, and so I salute you."

The small Irken's hand rose to his forehead. He brought it down and opened his Pak. Without a word, he threw the bomb inside, and his Pak closed.

"Now!" He raised his fist and spoke towards the ceiling. "Launch me into space!"

"That's your plan Zim?" Dib's eyes widened as he stared at the Irken in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

Zim's antennae flattened against his head, and he turned growling at the Earth boy.

"You don't understand how durable our Paks are stupid human. If were lucky, the mechanics might even be able to neutralize this smelly bomb! "

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then the Pak will absorb most of the energy created by the horrible explosion, making it puny enough to save you lives."

"You can't Zim…" Rin said. Tears clouded her vision. She wanted so badly to stop him… but she couldn't. If this was what Zim truly wanted, no one had the right to prevent him from doing what he felt he needed to do.

"Of course I can," Zim replied grinning widely. "I am Zim! Launch me into space Ron human!"

Ron nodded dumbly and quickly went to open the hatch which held the missiles.

"Good bye Zim…" Rin mumbled sadly. "I'll miss you…" She raised her hand and waved it tentifly, biting her lip as she watched him crawl into the missile launcher.

"If you happen to find Gir," Zim began, but he shook his head. "Never mind. I'll let you decide what to do with that annoying little robot."

Rick fired the small alien into outer space … and Zim flew a good distance before exploding. For once, Dib was glad that one of Zim's plans had actually worked. The Irken's Pak had been able to absorb a lot of the fiery explosion, but the shockwave caused the human's vessel to spin wildly out of control. They crashed right into the broken Massive, which was on fire, and fell out of the ship onto the floor of the Massive's control room. Red was sitting there alone the emergency lights flashing all around him. There was still one escape pod left; the pilots, drones, heck, even some of the more intelligent machinery had gone.

"Red!" Rin called clamouring over the debris with Dib following right behind her.

"What are you doing? The Massive could explode any minute…"

The Tallest's eyes lifted from the ground. He was resting his head on his fist, and his antennae fell sadly as though he had stumbled upon some kind of upsetting realization.

"Human…?" He questioned sounding worn-out. "Why are you here…? Where's Purple?"

"He's injured," Dib replied. "And we're here because we crashed into the side of your ship. You must have noticed the spacecraft sticking out of the wall…." Dib paused for a moment.

"You have escape pods onboard don't you?"

"Of course we do…" Red sighed and closed his eyes halfway. "Purple isn't hurt too badly is he?"

"He should be ok," Rin replied. "But Red, shouldn't you have gotten out by now…?"

"Probably."

"Why are you still here then?" Dib asked.

Red didn't answer. Instead he left his chair and hovered over to the humans.

"Show me Purple… I want to see that he's ok."

Inside the smouldering ruins of the human's busted spacecraft, Ron was beating the hell out of Lard Nar. Purple had managed to climb to his feet, but his antennae were hanging wearily and his skin had become a paler green.

"Dad, stop beating that alien," Rin insisted as she came to Lard Nar's rescue grabbing her father's hand.

"Purple!" Red said in shock when he saw the other Tallest leaning weakly against the wall.

"Red?" Purple questioned as his fellow Tallest slammed into him. Red's arms wrapped around his companion's armoured torso, and he buried his head in Purple's chest.

Stunned, all Purple could do was hold his companion steady as he continued to make crying noises.

"This wouldn't happen to have something to do with the promise we made when we were smeets…?" Purple asked looking down at Red who lifted his head a little.

"You promised that we'd die together," Red accused him. "So many times I thought you had gone before me…"

"Of course I wouldn't do that Red," Purple reassured the other Tallest. He was lying though. Many times he had pondered over the idea of dying before Red, and a part of him wished for that to happen.

"You're paranoid."

"No, I'm an idiot."

"You're crushing my body…" Purple whined, and Red abruptly let go. When the Tallest realized that his friend's blood was on him, his antennae fell and his shoulders sagged uselessly.

The young pilot broke open the door to the cockpit and bit his lip and he removed his space helmet. There was no point in trying to repair the ship now…

"Let's get out of here," Ron suggested. He had kept quiet for a while to allow the two aliens to have their little reunion, but the small fired were spreading… they needed to leave.

Purple and Red took the lead since they were the only ones that knew where the escape pods were. Tallest Red supported his companion whose hovering device had been broken by enemy fire. Purple was forced to limp along the ground while Red hovered close by, offering his support.

The hallways were long and filled with debris. Smoke clouded their vision, while the shorter ones, Rin Dib and Lard Nar were able to avoid inhaling most of the smoke. Being short had its advantages. Ron and Rick were at the rear coughing and hacking on the thick black fumes. The young man stood only a little shorter than them, and he managed to remain fairly quiet despite the smoke irritating his lungs.

"This way," Red encouraged them, and he glanced back to make sure the humans were still following. His eyes stung and his antennae flattened against the heat. He had noticed Lard Nar being forced along by the short female human, but he said nothing about this. A part of him wanted to rip the Vortian to shreds, but then another part of him wanted to keep the small annoying creature alive for the Control Brains to deal with.

"Let go of me," Lard Nar growled at Rin, but the girl didn't even look at him.

"I mean it alien creature…"

"You don't have any friends here," Dib told him irritably. "I would cooperate if I were you."

* * *

**More Notes: Disclaimer:** I own none of the original Invader Zim characters, but Rain, Rin, Ron, and Rick are my own little creations, and only Ron and Rin are related.

I killed Zim. Well, I guess I'll be hiding out in my bunker for the next little while. Chow.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes: **I am much like a lawnmower. Sometimes I need a kick to get started again. I don't cut grass, but I would love to sit out on the lawn... I wish I had a lawn.

**Warning:** Original character death!

It's not really as bad as watching an actual character from Invader Zim die, but still…

You have been warned!

**Who Should Live, Who Should Die**

As Red expected, there was only one escape pod left. It was the Tallest's escape pod; the rest of them had already been taken by the Massive's crew members.

"This was built for two… but some of you are small enough… we might be able to fit everyone inside," Red told them, his antennae rising a little. He was glad that the escape pod was still here at least. No one else could take it without getting zapped by the security measures installed, but if the workers had been desperate enough, no amount of security would have mattered.

At least they wouldn't have to run around panicking.

"What about Nar?" Purple questioned, and his tired eyes opened a little so that he could see Red's expression. It was like stone.

"What of him? He blew us up. He should stay here and burn to death…" the Tallest's voice lowered dangerously causing Purple to shudder. He hadn't seen Red get this angry in a long time; it wasn't something he enjoyed.

"Then I stay," Rin replied. Her heart tightened. Zim had been a friend, even if he never admitted it, so defending Lard Nar felt right somehow. To kill, to kill for revenge, then to kill again… this cycle could be broken. It needed to be broken.

Ron shot a death glare at the small grey alien who seemed very confused by the small girl's words. Wasn't she helping the Irken Armada? Why would she suggest saving his life, unless she meant to have him tortured.

"Staying here is fine with me," Lard Nar replied in a stubborn fashion, and he turned to the Tallest. "The thought of sharing a ship with you two makes me sick!"

Red's eyes narrowed, "I feel the same way about you Nar, except we're the ones with the escape pod!"

"Ouch… Red, settle down…" Purple whimpered. His fellow Tallest was digging his nails into his shoulder which had been exposed since the crash.

"Sorry Purple…" Red said as he discontinued the action.

"Rin, as your father I will not allow you to stay here!" Ron shouted angrily, but Rin didn't even flinch. Her thoughts and ideas had remained the same since her near death experience, but she was unable to express her emotions like she used to.

"You're being stupid," Dib told her. It sounded a little harsh, but he was worried about her. He couldn't let his only friend perish out here… ok… maybe he was being a little selfish, but he wasn't about to admit it.

The young pilot dipped his head.

"I understand her feelings though… she's trying to show forgiveness through her actions… if she doesn't save Lard Nar…"

"The cycle will continue," Rin answered. "Besides, Zim is dead now. There isn't anything we can do to change that…"

"Well my father was working on a time portal for a while, but he said it was too dangerous for me to use it," Dib told her. He couldn't believe he was actually considering going back in time to save his enemy.

"Wait… Zim is dead?" Red asked, and Purple's antennae fell sadly; it was an action Red never thought he'd see Purple use towards the little defect…

"He's the reason we're all alive right now," Purple admitted.

"Zim saved our lives!?" Red questioned loudly in surprise.

"Amazing isn't it…?"

"More like impossible!"

"Guys, the fires are spreading," Rick pointed out. It was true… despite the Massive's bulk and its metal components, the flames were still there, getting closer every second.

Red used the scanner which read his DNA and opened the escape pod's silver doors. The inside was smaller than he remembered… Not all of them would be able to fit.

There were two seats, and only enough space on the floor for two more life forms…

"The small humans cans squish in, but if we both escape… there won't be enough room for one of the taller humans."

"Why does your race have to be tall?" Red demanded. He looked at them and waited as though he actually expected an answer.

"Rin," Dib wasn't going to let her do something foolish. "You have to come with us… if you die, think of all the people you'll leave behind. They care about you… And you," his eyes turned to the small grey alien. "The same goes for you. Half of your fleet escaped intact. They're probably all counting on you to guide them still."

Lard Nar and Rin both looked at each other before turning back to Dib.

"The human does make sense…" Lard Nar said scratching his chin.

"I'm sorry Dib… I wasn't thinking about your feelings," Rin admitted; her eyes lowering guiltily. "But how are we going to decide who stays behind..?"

"Roy," Ron snapped, and the boy glanced up at his captain. "Get in the pod… you too Rick."

"Daddy…?" Rin questioned, her eyes widening.

"Don't be stupid Ron!" Rick stated angrily. "You have a wife and kids!"

"It's an unwritten human law that the captain goes down with the ship," Ron replied. "I knew that when I began to rise in rank."

"That law is stupid!" Red exclaimed, and Purple nodded in agreement.

"The ones with power should be saved… your human ways make no sense."

"Besides… wasn't it "the captain must go down with HIS ship?" Purple questioned raising his antennae.

"I like it," Lard Nar remarked grinning a little. "Why don't we just leave the two Tallest behind?"

"You don't get a say in this," Ron snapped at the alien.

"Look, I've got nothing," Rick admitted scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I had a wife, but she's gone now, and we never had kids. If anyone should stay it should be me."

"What about your girlfriend?" Ron questioned knowingly.

"N-Nina?" Rick sputtered. "We're not dating!"

Dib looked at Rin who had a sullen expression on her face. Despite her obvious apprehension towards her father's suggestion, she said nothing.

A generator of some kind exploded behind them, and everyone was forced to shield their eyes against the horrible light and billowing smoke.

"That's it!" Red stated grabbing Dib by the collar and shoving him inside the escape pod. He grabbed Rin next and threw her in while Purple was dragged along unwillingly.

Red's eyes narrowed as he glared at Lard Nar. "Get in," he snapped before turning to the three tall humans. "All of you decide right now what you're doing or the ship leaves without you."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Purple asked.

"No, what would be harsh is all of us dying out here just because one human couldn't stay behind!"

"They out number us Red…" Purple warned him as three sets of eyes glared angrily at the Tallest.

Then suddenly, Rick sat down on the floor cross-legged and folded his arms across his chest in a stubborn manner. "All of you have to go because I'm not leaving."

"Are you sure…?" Roy questioned, and Rick smiled up at the boy. "Of course I am. Run along now, both of you."

As soon as everyone had piled into the escape pod and the doors closed behind them, a large explosion tore through the hallway, burning everything in its path. The humans sat in stunned silence as blood from their former pilot dripped eerily outside the window. Rin buried her head in Purple's arm, and the Tallest patted her back, trying to comfort her somehow. Rick had been a friend of the family since before she could remember…

The small ship tore out of the hull of the Massive, and sped off into space. Purple's head rested comfortably against the other Tallest who was trapped in his own thoughts. This disaster could get both him and Purple deactivated he realized as dread fluttered through him.

Ron was having similar thoughts. He had lost numerous ships and two members of his own crew during his reckless pursuit of his daughter. He had involved family matters with his work… at the very least he was expecting to get demoted to janitorial duty. His daughter was safe though, and that's all that mattered. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his children.

The ship's course was automatically planned for Irk. Red's antennae perked up. At least he and Purple would be somewhere familiar. They might even have enough time to grab the humans one of their smaller battleships before being summoned to the planet Judgementia. He didn't really want to give these alien creatures one of their superior Irken ships, but he couldn't let them stay on Irk, and killing them now was out of the question. Purple was even holding one of the disgusting creatures…

Everyone sat in an awkward silence. No one could find the right words to say for such a moment. Their escape pod whizzed past a star, and they felt the heat of it. Roy sat with his head buried in his hands, and Ron was beside him offering the boy some support, though he was feeling bad enough to throw himself into a super nova.

Dib sat with his back to the wall, his knees propped closed to his chin. Beside him, Lard Nar was sitting with his eyes closed after removing his goggles. Purple and Red occupied the two seats, and Rin was sitting on Purple's lap.

Something jarred the spacecraft; straps flew out of the walls and kept the Tallest and the girl from falling all over the place. The other passengers weren't so lucky, and they ended up in twisted heap when the escape pod zoomed up and around to avoid hitting a large chunk of space debris.

"Get… off of me…" Ron breathed. Somehow he had ended up at the bottom of this pile.

"I'm trying!!" Lard Nar snapped irritably.

"Mfft mmrr!" Dib exclaimed trying to free himself from under Roy.

Red pointed and laughed, elbowing Purple in the side. His fellow Tallest chuckled a bit, but no real laughter came. Too much had happened in such a short period of time… Purple was tired and in pain. He wanted to go home more than anything else.

"What's going to happen to us when we leave here?" Rin questioned the Tallest.

One of Red's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the human girl.

"You and the other humans will be given an Irken battleship so you can leave as soon as possible," Red answered her.

"And Lard Nar?"

"Kill him!" Red shouted without hesitation.

"Red," Rin said sternly as she stared purposefully at the Tallest.

"He should die, don't you think so Purple?" Red questioned.

"Of course," Purple replied. "I mean this is mostly his fault."

"None of this would have happened if you two didn't send battleships to destroy Zim…" Dib reminded them having freed his head from being trapped underneath Roy, and both of the Tallest lowered their antennae guiltily.

"Fine… then I guess we could send him back to his home planet and force him to do hard labour there," Red shrugged.

Lard Nar bit his lip and lowered his gaze. He too had freed himself from the heap of bodies only to find out that the Tallest were deciding his fate. Inevitable doom caused him to become very quiet. He had been trapped on Vort before, but he had escaped and started the Resisty in order to free his home planet from Irken control. The idea of getting sent back made his insides churn… He'd rather die a horrible death than go back to that!

"I don't agree with either of those ideas," Rin said, and the Tallest stared at her stupidly.

"You don't get a say in this," Red stated as he folded his arms in a stubborn matter. "We're the ones with the resources to get you humans back to your planet. Arguing with us wouldn't be a very good idea."

"Well, I'm not really arguing," Purple told his fellow Tallest. His Pak was beginning to speed up his body in repairing his wounds, so he was starting to feel a little bit better.

"Let's see… if we let him go, we'd have to deal with him all over again… but if we forced him to work on Vort, he will probably escape and end up making trouble for us again anyway. If we killed him, then we would only have the surviving Resisty members to destroy…" Purple thought out loud.

"If one falls, another one will rise to take his place," Ron remarked with a shrug. "If Lard Nar dies, another Resisty leader will surface. The same can be said about you two. If both of you die, then another horrible tyrant will probably rise up. It's a cycle. It won't end until someone does something to stop it permanently."

"Oh really?" Red questioned. He didn't sound convinced. "What would you suggest?"

"Well, either you go around killing everything, or you all work together to reach some kind of agreement."

"The first one sounds good to me," Red stated.

"But the second one seems easier," Purple pointed out.

"What will happen to you two when we reach our destination?" Rin asked, and Red suddenly became very interested in the dust particles floating outside the window.

"Umm…" Purple glanced at Red, and then shrugged. "I'm going to eat a whole storage locker full of snacks! After seeing that you guys leave Irk without causing trouble of course… or maybe while we watch you guys launch into space. Ohh! And we'll have a "we didn't die" party with soda and donuts!"

Purple clutched his hands together in excitement while his companion remained silent.

"Red…?"

"Huh?" the Tallest's eyes shifted from the window. "Yeah, party… donuts…" he mindlessly agreed.

"You seem distracted," Dib noted. "Are you going to give us a reason?"

"Yeah well, there's a lot I've got to think about."

"Oh no, Red's thinking," Purple joked, and he was hit in the head by Red's gauntlet for his efforts.

"Ow…" Purple whined and clutched his sore head with both hands. "What was that for..?"

Red didn't know what would happen to them when they reached Irk… but what he did know was that he would take the blame for everything. He wasn't going to let Purple get hurt again.

**More Notes:** Mm… angst. This is also my attempt at trying to bring the Tallest back into character. It's kind of a contrast don't you think? Before it was "this is how Purple acts without Red and this is how Red acts without Purple." I'm assuming that they'll be easier to keep in character when they're together… yes. Hopefully this is the case.

Sorry for the lack of updating, but as you know, I was in hiding deep underground after killing Zim off, which reminds me… some of you have expressed some concerns over how this fic is going to end. The only thing I can tell you is… it's coming in the next few chapters. That's right. You will see soon just how great (or not great) I can end this fanfic. Mm hm. Wait and see.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Notes: **I don't have very much to say except, I've developed an interest for Windows Media Maker, and have started making music videos for IZ as well. I wish I knew how to use a flash maker… I wish I had a flash maker too. That'd be pretty sweet. That's going on my list of things to get right after "a lawn."

**Upgraded, Body and Mind**

Dib stared wide-eyed out the window at the tall Irken buildings below. The whole planet was built like a fortress. There were no trees, no plants; there was no organic life of any kind other than the Irkens who were part machine themselves. The small green aliens who had been walking the street didn't even glance up as the escape pod flew over head. Surviving ships from the recent disaster had been coming in all day.

They landed in one of the large metallic docking bays. Before the doors opened, the computers scanned the biological life forms inside. Assured that two were not only Irken, but the Tallest, the computer dismissed the idea of a possible threat from the other life forms and called for a floating platform.

Red and Purple led the others down the pathway and onto the floating device. "Take us to the labs, section 11," Red ordered. The platform sped quickly through underground channels until it rose up in a brightly lit room. The interior was silver in colour, and all around them foreign scientists scribbled on note pads and ran back and forth busy with one task or another. Lard Nar cringed and his shoulders fell. Many of them were from Vort.

One of the Irken guards who had been keeping watch went to greet the Tallest. He saluted them in an utmost serious fashion.

"My Tallest, what brings you here?"

Red shoved Rin forward. "This girl has been fitted with inferior mechanics… have one of the scientists fix them."

The guard's red eyes flashed across the room to a small Vortian in a lab coat who was busy scribbling notes about the reaction of a substance hovering on one of the tables.

"You!" The guard shouted, and the little alien froze.

"Get over here!"

Purple stared at the green glowing liquid floating just above the table as the Vortian rushed to stand before the guard. He would be punished if he addressed the Tallest directly; he knew this very well.

"Y-yes…?"

Rin smiled at him, and the Vortian quickly dipped his head.

The guard gestured with his scythe. "Take this girl and fix her metal components."

"But sir… we don't know about her kind…" The scythe came within inches of his face, and he gulped. How could he help something he had no knowledge of…? The Irkens weren't going to accept 'no' for an answer, and he knew if he failed, he'd be executed on the spot.

Ron rested his hand on his daughter's shoulder and glared at the strange alien that looked too much like the one that had shot her in the first place. If the little grey creature killed Rin, he would hurt the Tallest very badly.

"What is that?" the Tallest Purple asked hovering over to the table with the glowing green stuff.

Dib wandered away looking around curiously at all the strange machines and containers in the room. He touched one, and almost instantly a guard was on top of him.

Roy slowly moved to stand beside one of the busy scientists who was fixing a computer that had been destroyed in an experiment gone bad. The boy had always been interested in computer science, and this was the most high-tech computer he had ever seen.

The guards were more irritated now that the strange aliens the Tallest had brought back with them were snooping around the labs. Didn't they know where they were!? This was the centerfold of the mighty Irken Empire! Surely the Tallest had brought them here to become slaves… how dare they act so cocky!?

"Purple, stop staring at that…" Red scolded his fellow Tallest. "You're going to hurt your eyes." His attention shifted to the scientist still standing frozen before the guard. Luckily for the little Vortian, the guard was more distracted by the "new slave," Lard Nar, who had remained quiet… until now.

"You Irkens make me sick! Horrible bastards!" Lard Nar snapped, and the guard quickly grabbed the small alien by his collar and lifted him off the ground. "You think so eh? Well, you better learn to keep your mouth shut shorty if you hope to survive here!"

"Let me go or you'll regret it," Lard Nar demanded; his voice cold as ice.

"Stop it, both of you," Rin said as she tried to come between them. The guard simply smacked her away, and this enraged her father who barrelled down on the armour clad Irken, and he let out a startled yelp as his face smashed into the floor. All hell broke lose, and when Purple turned from the shiny green floating substance, he found that Ron had taken out at least eight of their guards.

Lard Nar had landed nimbly on the floor and stood watching the mess unfold. He chuckled, seeing the stupid Irken security scattered on the floor, but the human had been subdued by several other guards who stormed in to quell the unruly alien life form.

"What happened?" Purple demanded, and Red smacked his forehead. The purple eyed Tallest searched the room for answers, and he saw Rin holding her cheek and Ron with several of the Irken guards holding him down.

"Hey! We didn't give you permission to touch the humans!" the Tallest Purple snapped. "I turn my back on you for one minute and…"

"Everyone, return to your posts," Red interrupted rubbing his eye. He turned to the Vortian scientist who had been called to help Rin.

"You, take the human girl and do what you can. Don't endanger her life, or I'll launch you into a star… or something." They didn't have much time. His eyes kept flicking towards the ceiling… waiting for one of the monitors to be activated by the Control Brains.

"Yeah," Purple agreed happily. He was completely unaware of his fellow Tallest's worries…

They were sitting inside the Irken Palace, and like all the other buildings, it was made of some kind of metal. It was taller than any of the other buildings, but it was made out of the same components as everything else on Irk; cold hard steel or some kind of matter which was similar to that of steel.

Before Rin left to get what the Irkens called "upgraded," she made Purple promise not to leave Lard Nar somewhere he'd be forced to do slave labour. Red was completely against this. He wanted the foolish Vortian to pay for almost killing them, but Purple had agreed, and unlike Red he was usually pretty good at keeping his word. Well, except when it came to promising something horribly difficult, then he would usually get lazy and it wouldn't happen.

Ron had wanted to stay to keep an eye on his daughter, but Red had assured him that it would be easier for the scientist to make these "upgrades" if the human stayed far away. So they had all gone to the capital building to wait for Rin. A few service drones brought out snacks which Purple eagerly accepted. Red did too, but he kept glancing up at the ceiling.

"Are you waiting for something?" Lard Nar finally asked sounding annoyed.

"What?" Red questioned snapping out of his daze.

"You keep looking at the ceiling."

"Yeah… what's your point?"

Roy took one of the strange alien candy bar things. He had been selected amongst the humans as a taste tester. If he got sick, change colour, or if anything else odd happened to him, they'd know not to eat it.

Slowly he unravelled the wrapper and stood a piece of it in his mouth. It tasted sweet like chocolate, but it wasn't chocolate… It couldn't be. There were no coco plants on Irk.

"What is this made out of…?" Roy asked and Purple shrugged.

"It's made out of completely artificial things," Red answered. "There's a whole list of ingredients, but you've probably haven't heard of them before."

"How long will it take for your scientists to help Rin?" Ron asked. He didn't even bother trying to conceal the worry in his voice.

"I don't know," Red murmured. Ron's eyes narrowed at him, and Red's voice rose a little. "I don't know ok? I'm guessing it will probably take at least a few days since we don't have very much data on humans in our computers. Normally such a simple operation would take a few hours."

"I guess you didn't listen to Zim very much then huh?" Dib asked as he watched Roy for any signs of poisoning.

"Nope," Purple replied still shovelling candy bars in his face. He swallowed, and stopped long enough to get a few more words out. "The only thing I can remember Zim telling us about humans was that they were tall and stupid."

"Yeah, that sounds like something Zim would say," Dib commented. He decided to try one of the snack bars since Roy didn't seem to be having any strange side affects.

The day passed uneventfully, and Ron stopped pacing long enough to sigh, look out the window, then switch direction and continue pacing again. He had been doing this since the Tallest left to check up on Rin. That had been over an hour ago already, or at least, from what the human could tell it had been an hour. It was hard to keep track of time on a foreign planet.

"I want to see what's out there," Dib complained as he stared out the window. His head was beginning to spin… and his muscles were tense. He was becoming restless, and the sweet snacks that he had been eating probably hadn't helped much.

Ron hadn't touched a thing, but Roy had eaten his fair share of the Tallest's food. Even Lard Nar had finally given in to the temptation. It was really hard to resist something that tasted so good. He still couldn't believe that the Tallest were treating him civilly. Why had the human forced Purple to promise her that they wouldn't enslave him in their labs? He shook his head and stared down at the empty wrapper in his hand.

"Oh look! It's one of those smaller ships, like the ones Rin and I used to get to Food Courtia!" Dib suddenly exclaimed smacking his head against the window as he strained to get a better look.

"Voot cruiser," Lard Nar named it easily enough. It had been his people that had constructed the ship. He could name most Irken technology.

Roy too had begun acting a little odd. He couldn't sit still in his chair, and when he tried to force himself to remain still, his body would stand almost on its own. Maybe he was just restless…

The doors opened and Roy and Dib both jumped. The Tallest had retuned with Rin and the small Vortian scientist. She stood in between them with an upgraded eye glowing blue where an empty socket had once been. Also, she had been given a fully functional robot arm equipped with its very own communication device.

"What do you think?" Purple asked smiling proudly. The scientists had also done some work on the chip that was working Rin's brain. After viewing the tests results, the scientist said that the continuous stimulation of the chip might revive the brain its self.

The little girl smiled happily and ran into her fathers arms.

"Thank you," Ron said hugging his daughter close.

"I'm glad you like it," Purple replied, and Red nodded.

"Yeah… I guess."

"Too bad she made friends with the scientist… now we're going to have to share even more of our snacks," Purple said pretending to pout.

The shy scientist remained silent as the Tallest ushered him in. He was getting punished… he was sure of it. There was no way the evil tyrants of Irk could be inviting him here for anything other than their twisted pleasure.

Rin pulled away from her father and turned back to the scientist. He seemed so frightened. She moved to stand in front of him, and she extended her hand.

"Come with me," she said smiling, and the small Vortian dipped his head to hide a blush. He took her hand, and she led him over to Dib who was fidgeting with his hands and staring out the window.

"Dib? What are you doing?"

"I… I… so much… energy…" Dib replied, and his eye twitched. "Who's that?"

"Gif, he's the scientist that helped me out."

"That's good, I'm glad you're feeling better Rin," Dib said managing to keep a relatively normal level in his voice. "What the heck are in those snacks!?"

Roy fell from his chair and lay sprawled out on the floor. He breathed softly in his sleep. The snacks rush had ended for him, but Dib was still ready to leap out the window.

"Note to self… giving snacks to humans is a bad idea," Red thought to himself out loud.

"Maybe we should have gotten someone to make donuts," Purple said remembering that Zim had mentioned something about there being donuts on earth.

"It's too late now."

The door opened again, and a guard appeared and saluted the Tallest.

"My Tallest, the ship is ready for the humans."

Red turned to Rin's father who was watching his little girl talking to Dib and holding hands with the alien creature.

"The ship is ready outside. You should leave soon. Who knows how many Earth days you've been gone already."

The Irkens that had been travelling in their Voots, and walking along the mighty Irken streets, stopped to stare at the strange alien creatures as their Tallest led them to one of their prized battleships. It had been parked at the front of the Tallest's headquarters on Irk, where the humans had waited for Rin's return. Their curious red eyes looked from their leaders to the aliens. Why would the Tallest allow these strange beings to take one of their battleships?

When Red noticed all the eyes staring at them, he shot a glare at the crowd of Irkens who immediately turned their gaze and began doing something else. No one was allowed to question the Tallest.

Gif was frightened, and he shrank a little in fear when Purple loomed over him. There was no hostility in the Tallest's expression as he looked down at the small trembling Vortian. In fact, he was smiling in a sincere manner; it wasn't the 'I'm-going-to-blast-you-with-a-weapon-of-doom' smile Gif was use to seeing.

"Well scientist…" He paused.

"Gif," Rin said, recognizing that the Tallest had no idea what the little alien's name was.

"Right right," Purple said waving the small child's words away. "As a reward for not killing the human child, you may return to Vort,; which is still being controlled by the Irken Empire, go with Nar to wherever he plans to go, or remain one of our scientists studying freely on Earth."

"I… I have a choice?" Gif questioned disbelieving.

"Yup," Purple replied with a nod, and he held up three fingers. "You have a choice of three."

"Thank you my Tallest… if I could… I would like to study on Earth…"

"Ok, but you can't change your mind."

"You can stay with me Gif," Rin reassured the small Vortian who mustered up a smile for the first time in years.

Ron sighed. This probably meant more trouble for him.

"I guess this is ok," Dib said a little reluctantly. He'd had bad experiences dealing with aliens on Earth…

The Tallest had liberated one of his people… Lard Nar watched the scene silently with his arms folded. His green goggles hid any expression that might have reflected in his eyes, but his feelings were muddled with all sorts of different experiences and mixed emotions.

Ron glanced down at Lard Nar standing close by. Seeing how the Vortian's people had been treated in the labs made the man realize that the Resisty leader wasn't made evil because of his own doing. A mixture of cruelty and perseverance had been involved…he wouldn't bother Lard Nar anymore, Ron decided.

**More Notes: **Now that I have posted these chapters, I will return to my hole and continue hiding from the vengeful Zim fans. I'll wait a few days to post the last few chapters, but come they will.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's notes/Disclaimer:** Gif is an original, but his species belongs to Mr. Jhonen Vasquez; as does all original IZ characters and the Universe. His universe though, not ours. I would be scared if he owned our universe. Really really scared.

* * *

**Return to Earth **

The Irken battleship moved quickly through the galaxy. Lard Nar had given them the location of the Resisty's secret headquarters which was located on a comet that was flying through space with no destination in sight… it was a large piece of ice and rock, and it had made a fairly good base despite its tendency to often get struck by space debris.

"We aren't going to receive a warm welcome from the other Resisty members," Lard Nar stated as he watched the Resisty's battleships move into position. "This is an Irken ship. They'll think we're with the Armada."

"So we're going to get shot down again?" Ron questioned, and the Vortian nodded in reply.

"What about the white flag?" Dib asked holding up a piece of white fabric. There was a note attached to it, and he carefully peeled it off before reading it out loud.

"_Dear Humans_

_If you're going to bring Nar back to the Resisty's base, you're probably going to need this. Also there are some donuts in the back if you want them. I had a couple, but most of them should still be there._

_Sincerely, Purple."_

Since the Irken Empire was so cocky, there wasn't any way for the ship to actually fly the white flag, so they were shot down anyway. Roy had been trying to contact the Resisty ships before the explosion, but no one had responded.

"Well…Purple tried to help us…" Rin murmured. She had been knocked to the ground from the shock of the missiles striking the back end of their ship.

"Too bad he's an idiot," Dib said groaning as he lifted himself up. He quickly realized that he had landed on top of Gif, so he moved and ended up bumping into Roy. The former co-pilot had been knocked unconscious thanks to Ron crashing into him and smacking him into the wall.

"Is everyone alright?" Rin asked lifting her head a little. There were groans and slight shifting of bodies. The ship was still moving. Dib pressed his face against the window and saw nothing but darkness.

"Where are we?" he asked, and Lard Nar muttered under his breath as he rubbed his sore head.

"We're being dragged into the center of the comet. That's where the stronghold of our base is."

He walked over to the door and opened it up easily enough. The idiots had forgotten to seal the doors. How many times had he told them to always seal the doors after a successful capture?

"Ahh! One of them is escaping!" A purple alien with long antenna squeaked.

"Shut up Shloonktapooxis!" Lard Nar snapped. "Now I'm going to have to repair this thing thanks to you!"

The purple alien's antenna fell and he made a sour face. He was inside the spacecraft that was escorting the captured Irken vessel to the holding bay.

"Ha ha!" the orange alien that was seated beside Shloonktapooxis laughed. "You made Lard Nar angry!"

"Fools…" Lard Nar grumbled.

The busted Irken vessel was toed into a large empty room which was called the "holding bay." Really, it was more of a giant hole that had been hollowed out of the comet's center. It wasn't really impressive, not like Irk had been.

Gif clung to Rin as they were led out of the battleship. Despite being the same alien species, Lard Nar and Gif were really different. In fact, neither of them had spoken with each other at all.

"If one more ship explodes…" Ron growled clenching his fists tightly.

"Settle down daddy," Rin said with a sigh. Her father's face quickly lightened, and he smiled down at her.

"Sorry Rin. I've been acting horribly…" he paused and began thinking about what his wife would say if she caught him acting this way.

"Wow, there are so many aliens!" Dib exclaimed staring at all the oddly shaped creatures.

Lard Nar wouldn't let any other the other Resisty members touch the Irken ship. It belonged to the humans. He would repay them for saving his life by fixing the ship himself. In the meantime, everyone else was given a tour of the Resisty headquarters. Despite its location, they had managed to gather quite a bit of technology in the form of computers and weapon machinery.

When the humans and Gif returned to the holding bay, they found Lard Nar underneath the Irken vessel repairing some of its faulty wiring. He crawled out, brushed some sweat from his forehead, and uttered a sigh. He hadn't been forced to work like this since he'd been imprisoned on Vort. After becoming the leader of the Resisty, he always found someone else to do the physical labour.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought," Lard Nar informed them. "I fixed it. You'll be able to fly to Earth in this thing."

"What are you going to do now Lard Nar?" Rin asked.

"If the Irken Empire continues to be a problem, I'll continue to fight them."

The group of aliens that had formed around the humans cheered.

"But… if they are willing to negotiate, then we'll do that," Lard Nar finished, and his followers stared at him. They didn't know what happened after the Massive exploded. Their leader would fill them in after the humans left.

"That sounds like a good idea," Rin said with a smile, and Lard Nar turned away from her. "Good luck to you humans… Gif… I'm sorry I didn't come back…" That's all the Resisty leader said before leaving the room.

Shloonktapooxis shook his head and sighed.

"Lard Nar has always felt guilty for leaving his little cousin in that place," he told them.

Rin's eyes turned to Gif who was watching the ground timidly. He was Lard Nar's cousin…?

Roy had been forgotten in the Irken ship, but Ron quickly woke the sleeping co-pilot when they entered the vessel. The doors closed, and Roy sat up looking confused.

"Come on, we need you to fly this thing," Ron told him, and Roy nodded as he moved to take the controls.

After leaving the Resisty's headquarters, they hit a time warp which fused itself to the ship's engines. Dib and Ron screamed loudly, while the others held on for dear life, as the Irken vessel began traveling at insane speeds. They flew through many galaxies, and Roy was able to keep control long enough to steer the ship towards Earth. The blue planet's coordinates blinked on the screen. They would be there within the day.

Their galaxy passed in a blink of an eye, and the ship landed in an open field on the blue planet. It took everyone a couple minutes to realize they weren't flying anymore.

Ron opened the door to the lush green fields. A cool breeze blew over him, and he inhaled the sweet air. He had missed this planet, and though Dib had enjoyed seeing the wonders of space, he had to admit that he had also missed Earth. Cows bayed as they went to drink from a nearby stream, and the sun shone brightly overhead making the cool breeze feel good against the skin.

"We'll need to contact the Fighting Fists as soon as possible," Ron told Roy who had brought out his cell phone. The young man had kept it hidden in his jacket pocket. It was amazing that the device still worked after suffering through two explosions.

"Oh crap! I need to call my wife!" Ron exclaimed snatching the cell phone out of Roy's hands.

"What about the Fighting Fists…?" Roy questioned watching his commander as he frantically began dialling his house number.

"They can wait!"

The phone rang, and his son Max answered.

"Hi Max, could you put mommy on the phone for me?" he asked.

"She's working," the little boy replied.

"Oh… ok. What day is it today?"

"Tuesday."

"How long have I been gone?"

"Two weeks."

"I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, I'll be home for supper, promise."

"It's four thirty daddy."

"Oh… That's ok; I'll be a little late, but Rin and I will make it for sure."

"Daddy… why did you and Rin leave…? Don't you love us anymore?"

"Max… You know I love you. You guys are my world."

"Be home for supper… Cotey and I missed you."

"I will Max, I will. Daddy will see you at six o clock even if I have to speed like a maniac to get there!"

Ron pushed the button and cut the call before throwing it back to Roy. The young co-pilot dialled the number for the Fighting Fists, and Ron sighed as he looked down at Rin, Gif and Dib.

"Max was upset wasn't he?" Rin asked, and her father nodded. "Everyone is. I think it would be a good idea for me to stay at home for a few days… but Rin, you're going to have to catch up on a lot of Skool work. You too Dib."

"I know…" Rin said lowering her eyes as she thought about her horrible teacher.

Dib wasn't thinking so much about what would happen when he returned to class. He was more worried about what would happen between classes. He hadn't missed the jeering or the wedgies the other kids had often given him. In fact, flying in space had made him forget about all of that, but now that he had returned to Earth…

"They want to talk to you," Roy said solemnly, and he handed the phone over to his commander.

Ron took it, inhaled deeply, and then brought it to his ear.

"Hello sir… Yes I'm aware that I took the battleships without permission… yes I know half of them blew up in outer space, but I had to rescue my daughter and her friend. Yes the other child is Dib… Professor Membrane had been asking for him? Three days ago? What did you tell him?"

There was a long pause on the other end, and Ron's gaze shifted nervously to the cows mulling about the stream.

"Did he believe you? Ahh… you showed him our program. Was he impressed? He's willing to fund intergalactic travel!? That's wonderful news! Yes I know a lot of people died under my authority… I'm fired aren't I? No? Are you feeling alright? Demoted? Well that's better than being fired. Did I mention I brought back an alien spacecraft? Of course I'll let you look at it. Thank you, I need to rush home now and let my wife know I'm back. Alright. Bye."

He pushed the button to end the conversation and threw the cell phone back to Roy. The young man caught it and shoved it back into his pocket.

"That went better than I anticipated," Ron said with a grin. "Alright everyone lets fly this thing home!"

The dropped Dib off in front of his house, and he walked in ready to head up stairs and collapse into bed. His sister was sitting on the couch watching TV, and much to Dib's surprise, her eyes broke away from the screen long enough to regard him.

"Dad says you went into space."

"Yeah, I did. I saw so many amazing things out there," Dib began, but his explanation was interrupted by a yawn. "I'll tell you about it later."

"I guess I'll listen…" Gaz muttered irritably. She folded her arms across her chest and lowered her head a little masking her expression.

"I left you some cereal, so you better eat it…"

"Thanks Gaz," Dib said offering up a smile.

He had almost reached the stairs when his father suddenly appeared from his underground laboratory. Professor Membrane was still wearing his white lab coat and large goggles of science, but he wasn't doing his show this morning… he always did his show around this time.

"Son, you're home!" he exclaimed grabbing Dib and pulling him into a hug.

Dib's eyes widened and his muscles tensed up. His father hadn't hugged him in ages…

"After seeing the Fighting Fist's spaceships, I decided to fund their research into more convenient space travel. Who knows? Maybe they'll find some kind of alien life form someday!" Professor Membrane exclaimed before letting his son go and going back downstairs.

His father wasn't used to hugs either, Dib realized as he bolted upstairs to his room. He was smiling though. Professor Membrane had decided to promote intergalactic travel, and he had seemed interested in the idea of alien life forms. This was wonderful! Maybe his father would actually listen to him!

By now, Ron had learned most of the controls on the ship. He dropped Roy off in front of the Fighting Fist's headquarters before landing in his driveway. Both of his boys ran outside to see the strange alien device. Their eyes were wide and their mouths hung open in wonder. They were even more surprised when they saw that their older sister had a robotic arm and an abnormal looking eye.

"What happened to you Rin?" Cotey asked as his brother threw his arms over Ron and began sobbing.

"I got into an accident, but I'm ok," Rin told him flexing her robotic fingers. "See? I'm a cyborg now."

"Cool!" Cotey exclaimed as he pulled excitedly on Max's shirt. "Max! Max! Our sister's an android!"

Max slid out of his father's arms and stared at his sister who was smiling down at him.

"Can you blow stuff up?" he asked, and Rin laughed at her brother's innocent question.

"I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised if I could."

She beckoned to Gif who was hiding in the ship. His small grey head poked out, and her brothers gasped.

"An alien!" Max cheered.

"Dad brought home an alien!" Cotey exclaimed in excitement.

Rin's mother got off work at five thirty, so she was already at home starting on supper when her family came through the door. Ron wasn't sure what to say… he bit his lip before sighing and gently moving Rin in front of him so that she could see her daughter.

The woman's pale features became even paler when she saw that her little girl had a mechanical arm.

"What happened…?" she asked in a hushed whisper.

"She was shot by an alien battle ship. If it wasn't for their advanced technology, Rin would have died…"

"You…" his wife's featured grew more stern, and she ground her teeth in anger. "You horrible irresponsible man! It was you that allowed our daughter to fly to God knows where and get hurt like that!"

"Yes…" Ron admitted. "I feel horrible about it… but let's not discuss this in front of the children."

Hs wife's eyes fell on the Vortian who was watching her fearfully from behind Ron's legs. She let out a sigh and nodded.

"Ok… we'll discuss this later…"

* * *

**More notes:** That's funny. You can hear both sides of the conversation when Ron talks to his son, but only his side of the conversation when he talks to his boss. There is only one explanation for this; creative laziness.

You see? I do so notice these things. Now I need to come up with an excuse. I'll use my original excuse. I didn't want to have to write in another character, so I made it a one sided conversation. I won't mention my horrid lateness. Wait… dang it!


	19. Chapter 19

**Peace for Earth (ending)**

After supper was over, the children and Gif were ordered upstairs so the adults could have their conversation in private. Rin sat on her bed with her two brothers huddled beside her. They could tell that their mother was angry, and they moved closer to their sister for comfort.

Gif sat at the end of the bed and looked around at the small pink coloured room curiously. There were stuffed animals on the shelves and a desk covered in notebooks, pens, and other papers.

Something in Rin's mechanical arm began to throb. She lifted it up to get a better look and discovered that a small monitor had appeared. Her brothers leaned in to get a better look, just as a figure appeared on the screen.

It was Purple. Rin's eyes widened when he saw the horrible state he was in. There were dark circles under his eyes and thick tears trailing down his face. His antennae were drooping lifelessly, and his armour had been replaced with a different kind of attire. From what Rin could see, he was wearing a long purple shirt with baggy sleeves and a low neck line. He seemed unhurt, but she sat up straight as concern reflected in her eyes.

"Purple…? Are you alright...? Did something happen…?" she asked.

Her brothers stared at the alien on the monitor in awed silence.

"I don't know why… I just thought you might care… maybe…" Purple began. His voice was tired and each word he spoke seemed to drain him a little more.

"Red is gone…"

"Gone…?" Rin questioned in a small voice. "What do you mean…?"

"He was destroyed… everything that was Red is gone… He took the blame for our failure… for helping humans… for the destruction of our fleet and the Massive… for disobeying our orders… for… for…"

"Do the Control Brains think it's wrong to help others Purple…?" Rin asked in momentary confusion.

"Usually yes, we should have asked them first… Red and I started going against their command so they made us start Operation Impending Doom one, but… Red always told me that we didn't have to worry. The Control Brains made both of us the Tallest, so they must have agreed with our plans… I guess he thought wrong."

Fresh worry pierced through Rin when she thought about what this meant.

"What about you Purple? What's going to happen to you?"

"I've been banished… The new Tallest was just selected. Red saved my life… but what am I supposed to do now? What am I supposed to do without Red?"

"You have to get away from them Purple…" Rin told him. "Come to Earth… I will help you, I promise."

The Irken's eyes lowered as he thought about her proposal.

"Rin…"

"Yes?"

"The new Tallest plans to eliminate all alien races. They've already destroyed Vort… Gif and Nar no longer have a place to return to… The Control Brains want this, and they're never wrong. "Who needs other species when Irk is superior to them all," they said. What should I do…?"

He held his head and stared blankly at the screen.

"What should I do Red…?"

"Purple… listen to me," Rin began, and the former Tallest lifted his eyes to look at the monitor.

"When you were banished, they gave you a cruiser didn't they?"

"Y…yes… I haven't left the planet yet… they said they'd give me some time."

"Then do what you can… save who you can. Tell Lard Nar, maybe he can help somehow."

Purple nodded mutely before cutting the transmission. He would have to contact the Resisty and inform them of this new development. Maybe they would be able to save some of Nar's people. Maybe he would to Earth when he finished, or perhaps he would find another planet and stay there. Food Courtia did need another Fry Lord.

He would be surrounded by food all day at least.

It was late at night when Rin left her home and travelled to Zim's base. The computer was still functional, and she asked it to let her down to Zim's underground labs where most of the Irken technology was located.

While she was in the elevator, she had time to think about everything that had happened. Zim was gone, the Tallest's reign was over, and Gif's home planet had been destroyed. Some part of her when she had met Zim had hoped that aliens would be less cruel than humans, but this hadn't been true. Every intelligent life form had the ability to be good or evil, and it was always simpler to choose evil…

"Computer…" Rin began as she took out the device Zim had given to her.

"What do you want now?"

"What is this…?"

She held it up so the computer's cameras could get a look at it.

"That's Zim's data," it answered. "I'll show you what to do with it."

The elevator opened to a large room with controls and a monitor looming above them. There were other devices, poles that emitted a strange blue energy and long black tubes that coiled up to the ceiling. A path spread out before her, and she followed it to the controls.

"Stick it in the slot. If it doesn't work, smack it a few times."

Rin plugged the Irken device into the slot underneath the monitor, and Zim's face quickly appeared.

"Zim?" Rin questioned; her eyes widening in surprise.

"It's about time you got me back to my base human filth!" Zim's high pitched voice shouted from the monitor.

"Is that you?"

"Of course it's me! I am ZIM!"

"But… you're dead…"

Zim made a motion with his hand and grinned slyly. "Don't be silly stupid Earth stink! It was only Zim's body that exploded into a million tiny pieces! My memories and personality are still intact thanks to you."

His eyes searched around the room, and he made a face when he realized that his annoying robot henchman wasn't there.

"Where's Gir?" He asked.

Rin sat down underneath the monitor and pulled her knees close to her chin. She sat quietly for a while despite Zim's irritated glare. He wanted answers now!

More silence… there were tears coming from the girl's eyes. Zim made a face to express his disgust, but he slowly moved a robotic arm that had appeared from behind the control panel to comfort her.

"I really thought you had died Zim," she admitted.

"Fine fine, now, where is Gir? Tell meee…"

"I think he's still back on Food Courtia."

"Oh…"

"If Purple calls back, maybe I'll ask him to find the robot for you…"

"You shouldn't speak so casually with the Tallest," Zim warned her; his eyes narrowing. "You aren't even Irken!"

"Zim…"

"What? Why do you keep crying dirt child?"

"Purple isn't the Tallest anymore. He was banished, and Red was killed by the Control Brains."

"WHAAAT!?"

Zim's shriek of disbelief was soon followed by a flurry of incoherent ramblings that Rin couldn't make out. She got to her feet and slowly began walking towards the elevator. She turned back and found that Zim's picture on the monitor had calmed down a little and was watching her.

"Rin human… let me know if you hear anything more from Tallest Purple…"

"He isn't the Tallest anymore Zim…"

"Zim knows this! I will refer to him however Zim wants and I choose to call him the Tallest!"

Two days passed with no word from Purple. Rin sat in Ms. Bitter's class playing absently with her mechanical arm. A few rows over, a disguised Gif sat where Zim had once been. Dib's seat had been taken during his absence, so he had been forced to move to the very back of the classroom.

Rin, Dib, Gif, and Gaz all sat together in the cafeteria before heading outside. Gaz was playing a GameSlave 3 now. Apparently the new game system had hit the stores a few days after Rin and Dib left Earth. Gif was very interested in this game since he had never been allowed to have any fun working as a scientist on Irk. He kept trying to watch Gaz, and he commented on her skill a few times, much to the girl's displeasure.

"If you don't stop bothering me I'll tear your horns off…" she said in a low sinister voice which frightened Gif very badly. She later felt kind of sorry for him and allowed him to play a level on her game.

"You know Rin, everything turned out pretty good," Dib commented smiling brightly at the girl.

"I mean nothing this good ever happens to me!"

"Yeah… I guess so…" Rin responded softly. She had told Dib about what happened to the Tallest and the planet Vort, but he didn't really seem to care all that much. Her eyes lifted to the blue canvas above them, and she sighed when she heard the bell ring. Before she could follow the others inside however, a bright object suddenly appeared in the sky.

Dib's gaze followed Rin's. There was a spaceship in the sky! It was headed towards them!

"Hey everybody! Look at that!" he shouted to the other students who moaned and grumbled. None of them bothered to even look at the "crazy kid," and Dib uttered a frustrated sigh. Despite his father's new interest in intergalactic travel, no one believed that he had actually gone into space. The Fighting Fists weren't going to admit to alien existence either since the government was paying them a lot of money to cover it up.

The Irken vessel landed in the Skool yard. Purple stepped out, his large Irken eyes covered by cheap sunglasses he had picked up at a human gas station. He was wearing a purple flannel shirt buttoned to the top, Irken made black pants, and the customary black boots that went with them. He had left his antennae exposed; even the stupidest humans would probably do a double-take if they saw them.

"Purple!" Rin exclaimed happily as she threw her arms around him.

"Some funny stuff happened along the way here…" Purple began slipping out of her hold. "Did you know that Gir has officially been dubbed the new Fry Lord?"

"Really?" Rin questioned, and her regular human eye widened in amazement. "How did that happen?"

"Apparently he's not that bad of a cook… soap is a delicacy on some planets anyway…"

"What about Lard Nar and the Resisty?"

"More groups are joining them now that the Irken threat has become more deadly," his voice faded, and he lowered his sunglasses a little so he could get a better look at the two humans.

"As for me, I decided to come here when I learnt that you have very similar snacks to the ones on Irk…. And I just couldn't make myself stay on Food Courtia with that strange SIR unit there."

"Wait… you're staying here?" Dib questioned, pointing accusingly at the former Tallest. "You aren't going to try to destroy the Earth or turn it into some kind of second Irk or something are you?"

Purple sighed. "You don't have to worry about that human… I've come to realize that one Irk is plenty, and as for destroying this planet… why would I do that when I plan to live here?"

He pulled out a brochure from the folds of his shirt (another item he had required at a human gas station) and opened it up to the page he'd circled earlier.

"I was thinking of going to U-roop, or whatever that place is called," he said letting the humans look at the map before putting it away. "You should warn your father about the Irken threat Rin… Let him know so the Earth won't fall victim to them. I'm tired now… I just want to exist someplace without disturbances… I probably won't be able to help you much anymore."

Having said his piece, Purple returned to the small Irken vessel, waved good bye, and flew off to begin his knew life in Europe. Rin and Dib both watched as the spaceship disappeared into the clouds which had begun to form over the city.

"I'll have to tell Zim about this," Rin remarked. "He won't believe that his robot is the Fry Lord."

"Wait…" Dib stared at her with a look of disbelief. "Zim is alive!? How!?"

"Oh… I forgot to mention that?" Rin questioned him innocently. "Maybe I'll let you come with me after Skool if you promise to leave your video camera behind."

"I can still take photos though can't I?" he asked holding up his regular camera.

"No."

"Please Rin?"

"No Dib."

The two looked at each other in mock determination. Dib was the first to crack, and he began laughing. Rin laughed too as they headed into the Skool together. It didn't even matter that they were probably going to be sent to the underground classrooms for being late again.

* * *

**More Notes:** And everyone lived happily ever after! Except for Tallest Red and all the Vortians who were slaughtered… and Gashloog and Sizzlor… Zim is stuck inside his computer, so I don't think he's actually going to be happy, and I'm pretty sure Ron has a pending divorce on his hands…

Ok, so Rin, Dib, Gif and Gaz lived happily ever after.

Could there be more? Probably. Ah well. I have too many other ideas to deal with a potential sequel right now. Maybe later.

Thanks again for reading. I'd apologize for all the death but I kind of enjoyed it.


End file.
